Phrase guide

slow motion

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˌsləʊˈməʊ.ʃən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A technique of film, photography, and video in which time is stretched in order to allow the visibility of things normally happening too fast to be conveniently examined.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: broadcasting, cinematography, film, media, television

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: slo-mo, slowmo

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Movement at a slow pace.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a movie that apparently takes place at a slower than normal speed; achieved by taking the film at a faster rate

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: movie, film, picture, moving picture, moving-picture show, motion picture, motion-picture show, picture show, pic, flick

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Burmese: စလိုမိုရှင် (ca.luimuihrang) — film stretched in time
  • Catalan: càmera lenta — film stretched in time
  • Chinese Mandarin: 慢動作 /慢动作 (màndòngzuò) — film stretched in time
  • Danish: slowmotion — film stretched in time
  • Dutch: slow motion — film stretched in time
  • Estonian: aegluubis — film stretched in time
  • Finnish: hidastus — film stretched in time
  • Finnish: hidastuskuva — film stretched in time
  • French: ralenti — film stretched in time
  • Galician: cámara lenta — film stretched in time
  • German: Zeitlupe — film stretched in time
  • Greek: αργή κίνηση (argí kínisi) — film stretched in time
  • Hebrew: הילוך איטי — film stretched in time
  • Hungarian: lassított felvétel — film stretched in time
  • Indonesian: gerak lambat — film stretched in time
  • Italian: rallentatore — film stretched in time
  • Italian: ralenti — film stretched in time
  • Japanese: スローモーション (surō mōshon) — film stretched in time
  • Korean: 슬로 모션 (seullo mosyeon) — film stretched in time
  • Malay: gerakan perlahan — film stretched in time
  • Persian: اسلوموشن (eslomowšen) — film stretched in time
  • Portuguese: câmara lenta — film stretched in time
  • Portuguese: câmera lenta — film stretched in time
  • Russian: уско́ренная киносъёмка (uskórennaja kinosʺjómka) — film stretched in time
  • Russian: заме́дленное движе́ние (zamédlennoje dvižénije) — film stretched in time
  • Spanish: cámara lenta — film stretched in time
  • Spanish: ralentí — film stretched in time