slackness

slack slack ¹ [slæk] adjective

1. COMMERCE a slack period of time is one with less business activity than usual:

• Business is slack just now.

• The workers feared being laid off (= losing their jobs ) in slack periods.

2. if someone is being slack, they are not taking enough care or making enough effort to do things right:

• The report criticized airport security as “disgracefully slack”.

• High prices and the absence of competition may make firms slack in their use of resources.

— slackness noun [uncountable] :

• the slackness of the London market at present

• The report accuses the government of slackness.

* * *

Ⅰ.

slack UK US /slæk/ adjective

► if business or economic activity is slack, there is less activity than usual: »

He wanted to sell some of his rental homes, but the region's slack economy stopped him.

»

May was a very slack month for the entire industry.

»

slack market/demand/sales

slack time/period »

Summer is usually a slack time for energy demand.

► something that is slack is not strict or effective enough: »

Experts say that slacker financial controls may be to blame.

»

There were claims in the media of slack corporate governance.

► someone who is slack is not working hard enough or spending enough time or care on something: »

Businesses that shout loudest about delayed payments are often the worst slack payers.

be slack with something »

She's always been a bit slack with her accounts.

Ⅱ.

slack UK US /slæk/ noun [U]

► resources, such as money, people, or time, that are not being used at a particular time: »

At the moment we have very little slack for dealing with emergencies.

slack in something »

Anne and Bill didn't have enough slack in their household budget.

● pick/take up slack — Cf. take up slack

slackness noun [U]

► »

There has been some slackness in the labor market this quarter.