Word.ws English Dictionary

slowworm

/ˈsləʊwɜː(ɹ)m/

slowworm noun: a small Old World lizard, Anguis fragilis, often mistaken for a snake, having no legs and small eyes.

slowworm: a small Old World lizard, Anguis fragilis, often mistaken for a snake, having no legs and small eyes
Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

slowworm (plural slowworms)

  1. A small Old World lizard, Anguis fragilis, often mistaken for a snake, having no legs and small eyes.
    • Well, sir, it may be we shall have some better orations of it anon: well, Ile watch you as narrowly as ever you were watcht, and Ile play with you as the nightingale with the slowworme;[…]c. 1588, Robert Greene, “Scene Eleventh. Frier Bacons cell.”, in The Honorable Historie of Frier Bacon and Frier Bongay

slowworm meaning in Persian

slowworm in Persian

Anguis fragilis
کلمره

Synonyms of slowworm

All synonyms of slowworm

Forms of slowworm

pluralslowworms
alternative formslow worm
alternative formslow-worm

Origin of slowworm

From Middle English sloworm (possibly influenced by slow), from Old English slāwyrm (“slow-worm, blindworm”), from *slā, related to Norwegian slo (“slow-worm”), Swedish slå (“slow-worm”) + wyrm (“worm, snake”). Compare Swedish ormslå.

Questions about slowworm

What does slowworm mean?
Slowworm means a small Old World lizard, Anguis fragilis, often mistaken for a snake, having no legs and small eyes.
What is slowworm in Persian?
Slowworm in Persian is کلمره. See Slowworm meaning in Persian.
What part of speech is slowworm?
Slowworm is a noun.
How do you pronounce slowworm?
Slowworm is pronounced /ˈsləʊwɜː(ɹ)m/.
What is the plural of slowworm?
The plural of slowworm is slowworms.

Words near slowworm in the dictionary

  1. slowsome
  2. slowtard
  3. slowtards
  4. slowth
  5. slowwitted
  6. slowworm
  7. slowworms
  8. Sloyan
  9. Sloyans
  10. sloyd
  11. sloyds

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: slowworm (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-uk-slowworm.ogg.

Cite this entry: “slowworm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/slowworm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.