lagging
lagging adjective: falling behind, not keeping up the pace. Also the present participle and gerund of lag.
Adjective
lagging (comparative more lagging, superlative most lagging)
- falling behind, not keeping up the pace
- Occurring after; indicating the later phase of
- A leading wave is one which reaches its maximum value before another, which is thus a lagging wave1944, David Hay Surgeoner, Radio for aeroplanes, page 34
Noun
lagging (usually uncountable, plural laggings)
- The covering of something with strips of felt, wood etc, either as insulation or for protection.
- The material so used.
- A prison sentence, originally one of at least three years.
- "Whether you'll get a nine or a lagging depends on the answer you give me, Mrs. Inglethorne."1926, Edgar Wallace, The Square Emerald
Also used as
lagging is also the present participle and gerund of lag.
Examples of lagging in a sentence
- Liam was lagging behind in the race.
- This is one area Singapore is lagging behind, PM Lee noted.
- 'When trading in opium becomes legal I doubt if Gemmell Company will be lagging behind.'
Forms of lagging
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more lagging |
| superlative | most lagging |
| Noun | |
| plural | laggings |
Origin of lagging
from lag
Words formed from lagging
Phrases with lagging
Words that rhyme with lagging
Questions about lagging
- What does lagging mean?
- Lagging means falling behind, not keeping up the pace.
- What part of speech is lagging?
- Lagging can be an adjective or a noun.
Words near lagging in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lagging (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-lagging.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lagging.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lagging. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.