stragglers
Those falling behind
Stragglers are people or things that fall behind or arrive after the main group.
Soldiers who can't keep pace with their unit are stragglers.
At a party, the stragglers are the last guests to leave: A few stragglers were still drinking at midnight.
The word implies lateness, slowness, or scattered arrival rather than deliberate separation.
Following behind something
loitering · lingering · slowpoke · sluggish · lagging · dawdle · tarry · meander
Those still alive after
- leftoversUneaten food kept afterward
- remainderWhat's left over
- remainsContinues in place
- residualWhat remains afterward
leavings · holdouts · hangers-on · tail · rearguard · vestiges · remnants · dregs
Spread irregularly about
- dispersedSpread widely apart
- lostUnable to navigate
- wanderingTraveling with no fixed course
- detachedApart or uninvolved
isolated · adrift · stray · wayward · roaming · split off · separated · disconnected
trailing
Following behind something
dawdling · loitering · lingering · slowpoke · sluggish · lagging · dawdle · tarry · meander · saunter
survivors
Those still alive after
residual · leavings · holdouts · hangers-on · tail · rearguard · vestiges · remnants · dregs · relics
scattered
Spread irregularly about
detached · isolated · adrift · stray · wayward · roaming · split off · separated · disconnected · off-course
nonconformist
Rejects prevailing social standards
loner · oddball · maverick · rebel · fringe · unconventional · rogue · independent · irregular
- herd memberscow, cows, bull, bulls, calf
- herdcows, bulls, calves, horses, elephants
- remaindersleftovers, remainder, remnants, residue, scraps
- slackersslackers, loafers, idlers, idler, layabouts
- military unitsarmy, battalion, squad, brigade, company
- remnants of the pastrelics, ruins, fossils, vestiges, artifacts
stragglersleaders
Those with authority
frontrunners · vanguard · trailblazers · advance guard · point men