The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms INTRO ...

terrific pace and is beginning to slack off. Business has
slackened off since Christmas. 4 neglect, shirk, Colloq Brit
skive (off), US goof off, Chiefly military gold-brick, Taboo
slang US fuck the dog: Don't let the foreman find you slacking.
--n. 5 lull, pause, inactivity, cut-back, lessening, reduction,
abatement, drop-off, downturn, diminution, decline, fall-off,
decrease, dwindling: How do you compensate for the slack in
sales of ski equipment during the summer? 6 room, looseness,
slackness, play, give: There's too much slack in that mooring
line.
slacker n. shirker, loafer, idler, Slang Brit skiver, Military
scrimshanker, US gold brick, goof-off: We have tight deadlines
to meet, so there is no room for slackers on the team.
slake v. satisfy, quench, gratify, allay, assuage, ease, relieve:
Nothing would slake my thirst better right now than a pint of
ice-cold lager.
slam v. 1 shut, fling closed, bang: Gillian said that she hated
encyclopedias, and slammed the door in the salesman's face. 2
crash, smash, smack, dash, ram, bang, slap: Not looking where
he was going, Newland slammed his car into a street lamp. 3
criticize, attack, vilify, pillory, run down, disparage,
denigrate, denounce, put down, flay, pounce on or upon, Colloq
shoot down, pan, Chiefly Brit slate: The critics slammed his
play because of the way it portrayed women.
slander n. 1 defamation (of character), calumny, obloquy,
misrepresentation, slur, vilification; libel: He spread lies
about me and I am suing him for slander.
--v. 2 defame, calumniate, disparage, slur, traduce, malign,
smear, vilify, decry; libel: He must be stopped from slandering
people and ruining their reputations.
slanderous
adj. defamatory, calumnious, disparaging, smear, deprecatory,
depreciative, discrediting, decrying; libellous: I understand
that she made some slanderous remarks about your relationship
with your ex-wife.