“laggard”是可数名词，意思是“落后者”，从动词 lag（落后）衍生而来。这个词是《经济学人》的常客，可以指一个人、一家公司、一支球队、一个国家。英英释义：a person who makes slow progress and falls behind others

例句:

① 这项比赛竞争激烈，不适合失败者和落后者，就可以说：

This cut-throat contest is not for losers and laggards.

② 中国男足一直落后，让很多国人觉得非常尴尬，我们就可以说：

The Chinese national football team has long been a laggard, an embarrassment to many Chinese.

③《经济学人》文章中用到的几处 laggard：

a) Britain’s economy has gone from a leader to a laggard internationally, as GDP growth has slowed sharply.

想表达“从领头羊变成了落后者”就可以直接用“go from a leader to a laggard”这一表达。

b) Indeed, half a millennium ago Europe might justly have been considered a laggard.

c) On its current path, the country will remain a growth laggard.

这句中，注意 growth 虽然是名词，但也可以用来修饰 laggard。这个用法在有的字典中查不到，不过在地道英文中还是可以看到的。我们在阅读中可以多注意积累类似的名词作修饰语的用法。

1）翻译：

这个国家的经济一度落后，不过现在已经开始迎头赶上了。

Once a laggard, the economy of this country is starting to catch up. Long a laggard, this country's economy is beginning to pick up.

2）造句。

例子： 雪佛龙（一家能源企业）已经从落后的状态中走出，成了一家世界顶尖企业。

场景 : Chevron, an energy firm, has gone from a laggard to a world-beater.