as in snails
someone who moves slowly or more slowly than others
tried to spur on the laggards at the back of the line during the hike
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Recent Examples of laggards
The rotational dynamics since late October have continued to favor economically sensitive stocks and 2025 laggards over the tech giants that contributed the most value over the past three years.
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Michael Santoli, CNBC, 5 Jan. 2026
This raises the question of how exactly the search giant pulled this off, and whether any of the four laggards can do the same—and deliver a similar win for their suffering shareholders.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Dec. 2025
Companies that moved early are already enjoying valuation premiums compared with laggards as markets increasingly price in regulatory risk, climate risk, and the opportunity created by low-carbon growth.
—Paul Polman, Time, 25 Nov. 2025
Economies that embed decarbonization into their growth models are becoming magnets for investment; laggards are already seeing their cost of capital rise.
—Felicia Jackson, Forbes.com, 3 Oct. 2025
McKinsey researchers also found that the gap in digital transformation maturity between market leaders and laggards has increased by 60% over the past three years.
—Igor Rikalo, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laggards
Noun
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One of my prompts on the app detailed my phobia of snails in detail.—
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Take respectful photos and use your Pocket Guide to identify common species like tidepool sculpin or turban snails.—
Noun
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Its companions are four Russian mobsters — stragglers from the previous season — laying on their stomachs with their necks outstretched over the rail.—
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The last Orionid stragglers usually appear sometime in early to mid-November.—
Cite this Entry
“Laggards.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laggards. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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