sag

¹

[sag]

verb (used without object)

sagged, sagging 

1. to sink or bend downward by weight or pressure, especially in the middle.

   The roof sags.

2. to hang down unevenly; droop.

   Her skirt was sagging.

3. to droop; hang loosely.

   His shoulders sagged.

4. to yield through weakness, lack of effort, or the like.

   Our spirits began to sag.

   Synonyms: weary, tire, flag, weaken

5. to decline, as in price.

   The stock market sagged today.

6. Nautical.

   1. (of a hull) to droop at the center or have excessive sheer because of structural weakness.

   2. to be driven to leeward; to make too much leeway.

verb (used with object)

sagged, sagging 

1. to cause to sag.

noun

1. an act or instance of sagging.

2. the degree of sagging.

3. a place where anything sags; depression.

4. a moderate decline in prices.

5. Nautical.

   1. deflection downward of a hull amidships, due to structural weakness.

   2. leeway.

SAG

²

[sag]

noun

1. Screen Actors Guild.

sag

/ sæɡ /

verb

1. (also tr) to sink or cause to sink in parts, as under weight or pressure

   the bed sags in the middle

2. to fall in value

   prices sagged to a new low

3. to hang unevenly; droop

4. (of courage, spirits, etc) to weaken; flag

noun

1. the act or an instance of sagging

   a sag in profits

2. nautical the extent to which a vessel's keel sags at the centre Compare hog hogged

3. 1. a marshy depression in an area of glacial till, chiefly in the US Middle West

   2. ( as modifier )

      sag and swell topography

Other Word Forms

• antisag adjective
• unsagging adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sag¹

1375–1425; late Middle English saggen (v.), probably < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian sagga to move slowly (akin to Low German sacken to sink, Norwegian, Danish sakke, Swedish sacka, Icelandic sakka to slow up, fall behind)

Word History and Origins

Origin of sag¹

C15: from Scandinavian; compare Swedish sacka, Dutch zakken, Norwegian dialect sakka to subside, Danish sakke to lag behind

Example Sentences

“Eddington’s” design teams have taken care to fill Joe’s home with dreary clutter and outfit him in sagging jeans.

From Los Angeles Times

When the boy’s not looking, Jamie’s shoulders sag as he trudges up the stairs to Isla’s sickbed, showing us a hint of adult complexities he alone understands.

From Los Angeles Times

The vinyl rain gutter sagged and melted, its plastic material flapping in the wind like a flag, and the window shattered shortly after, letting the flames enter the interior.

From Los Angeles Times

"Momentum is sagging a bit which is a little concerning," says Hannah Hess of the Rhodium Group research firm, which partners with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to produce it.

From BBC

We glimpse it in the first moments of “April” — this naked, human-like being whose body resembles a sagging skin bag.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cave in 
• dip 
• drop off 
• fall off 
• languish 
• sink 
• slide 
• slip 
• slump 
• wilt