Slow, dilatory, laggard, deliberate, leisurely can apply to persons, their movements, or their actions, and mean taking a longer time than is necessary, usual, or sometimes, desirable.
Slow (see also STUPID ), the term that is the widest in its range of application, may also be used in reference to a thing (as a mechanism, a process, or a drug) that is the opposite of quick or fast in its motion, its performance, or its operation. In its varying applications slow often suggests a reprehensible or discreditable cause (as stupidity, lethargy, indolence, or inaction), but it may suggest either extreme care or caution or a tempo that is required by nature, art, or a plan or schedule or a falling behind because of structural or mechanical defects or untoward difficulties.
Dilatory is relatively a term of restricted application referable to persons or to things for which persons are responsible as their actors, performers, or creators and implying slowness that is the result of inertness, procrastination, or indifference.
Laggard is even more censorious a term than dilatory , for it implies a failure to observe a schedule (as for arriving or performing) or to obey a call or demand promptly; it frequently suggests loitering or waste of time.
Deliberate (see also DELIBERATE 2 ) applies to persons, usually directly but sometimes indirectly, and then is applied to things for which a person is responsible; the term suggests absence of hurry or agitation and a slowness that is the result of care, forethought, calculation, or self-restraint.
Leisurely also implies a lack of hurry or a slowness that suggests that there is no pressure for time; the term applies not only to persons and their acts but to things that have no relation to persons.