Slow vs Late - What's the difference?
slow | late |
Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.
* (John Milton)
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.
Not hasty; not precipitate; lacking in promptness; acting with deliberation.
* The Bible, Prov. xiv. 29
(of a clock or the like) Behind]] in time; indicating a time [[early, earlier than the true time.
Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
(of a period of time) Not busy; lacking activity.
To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of.
To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of.
To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate.
* '>citation
Slowly.
* Shakespeare
Near the end of a period of time.
Specifically, near the end of the day.
(usually, not used comparatively) Associated with the end of a period.
Not arriving until after an expected time.
Not having had an expected menstrual period.
(deceased)(not comparable, euphemistic) Deceased, dead:
* , chapter=12
, title= Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office.
Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.
* 1914 , (Robert Frost), (North of Boston) , "A Hundred Collars":
(informal) A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.
* 2007 , Paul W Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue
After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.
formerly, especially in the context of service in a military unit.
:Colonel Easterwood, late of the 34th Carbines, was a guest at the dinner party.
As nouns the difference between slow and late
is that slow is someone who is slow; a sluggard while late is (kind of) hatchet, axe, chopper.As an adjective slow
is taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.As a verb slow
is to make (something) run, move, etc less quickly; to reduce the speed of.As an adverb slow
is slowly.slow
English
Adjective
(er)The attack of the MOOCs, passage=Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.}}
- These changes in the heavens, though slow , produced / Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
Charles T. Ambrose
Alzheimer’s Disease, volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
- He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
Synonyms
* See also * (taking a long time to move a short distance) deliberate; moderate * (not happening in a short time) gradual * (of reduced intellectual capacity) dull-witted * (acting with deliberation) dilatory, inactive, tardy, slothful, sluggish * (lacking spirit) boring, dullAntonyms
* (taking a long time to move a short distance) fast, quick, rapid, swift * (of reduced intellectual capacity) prompt, quick * (acting with deliberation) hasty, precipitate, prompt * (lacking spirit) brisk, livelyDerived terms
* slow motion, slo-mo * slow-belly * slow burn * slowish * slowly * slow march * slowness * slowpokeVerb
(en verb)- After about a minute, the creek bed vomited the debris into a gently sloped meadow. Saugstad felt the snow slow and tried to keep her hands in front of her.
Synonyms
* (keep from going quickly) delay, hinder, retard * (become slow) decelerate, slackenDerived terms
* slower * slow up * slow downAdverb
(er)- That clock is running slow .
- Let him have time to mark how slow time goes / In time of sorrow.
late
English
Adjective
(er)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.}}
- Lancaster bore him — such a little town, / Such a great man. It doesn't see him often / Of late years, though he keeps the old homestead / And sends the children down there with their mother
Usage notes
* (deceased) (term) in this sense is unusual among English adjectives in that it qualifies named individuals (in phrases like (term)) without creating a contrast with another Mary who is not late. Contrast (hungry): a phrase like (term) is usually only used if another Mary is under discussion who is not hungry.Noun
(en noun)- At about 11 pm one night in Corporation Street my watch were on van patrol and Yellow Watch were on lates as usual.
Adverb
(er)- We drove as fast as we could, but we still arrived late .
