variants
also slews
or slues
as in marshes
spongy land saturated or partially covered with water
the land for miles around the lake is strewn with ponds, sloughs, and mudflats
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in shuffles
to move heavily or clumsily
the unpleasant task of sloughing through the muck to retrieve the ball
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also sluffs
as in sheds
to cast (a natural bodily covering or appendage) aside
the snake is sloughing its old skin
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of sloughs
Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 5 Jan. 2026
They are found in a wide variety of habitats but prefer oak-cabbage palm hammocks, freshwater marshes and sloughs, pine flatwoods, and more open agricultural areas.
—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025
If something happens to the water, land or the sloughs that hold the wild rice beds, the tribe has nowhere else to go, Tsosie explained.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 13 Aug. 2025
Find a general area where ducks seem to be frequenting and then mark the public sloughs and potholes that can’t be seen from the road.
—Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 6 Aug. 2025
Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 12 Jan. 2026
The stand collar is ideal for keeping the chill out, too, while a water-resistant fabric sloughs off rain and snow with ease.
—Michelle Tchea, Travel + Leisure, 12 Jan. 2026
This option by Neogen utilizes a three layer design, part of which is from 100% cotton mesh, that manually sloughs away dead skin cells.
—Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
Noun
Explore a white-sand beach and the sinks, swales, and sloughs found within the 2,500-acre Suwannee River Water Management District.
—Verb
Primarily, there are beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) courtesy of lipo hydroxy acid (LHA), a deep-penetrating chemical exfoliant that gently sloughs off old, dead cells to reveal brighter, fresher skin.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for sloughs
Noun
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Those windmills stood on mud and marshes amid samphire and pink thrift flowers, the only warm glow around our house.—
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Then look to the beach to spot shorebirds such as seagulls and pelicans, while the marshes on the island’s backside are frequented by herons, egrets, and ibis.—
Noun
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But elevation changes and wetlands on the property mean extra hurdles.—
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The alternative would run by about 886 acres of wetlands.—
Noun
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More is at stake than preserving the singular beauty of the sawgrass prairies of Everglades National Park or cypress swamps of the Big Cypress National Preserve.—
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By gathering second- and thirdhand traces and elusive sources and data, historians have illuminated communities in the forests of the Kongo region, the deltas of West Africa, the mangroves of Cuba, and the swamps of the Carolinas.—
Cite this Entry
“Sloughs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sloughs. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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