Application menu opening is delayed when pressing meta key

As title says- when I press the meta key for opening the application menu there is about 1 second of delay before it opens.
Directly clicking on the application menu makes it open at expected snappy-ness, though.
Not just visual:
typing straight after pressing meta, all the keys do as they would if I didn’t have the menu open.
when it finally opens, the words start filling in as expected.

System is up-to-date. Changing the kernel does not help nor does turning on/off the compositor. Themes have no effect either.

output of inxi:

System:
  Kernel: 5.11.1-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.11-x86_64 
  root=UUID=b5020253-8d75-4ad1-abef-d3d0c07dffe0 ro quiet apparmor=1 
  security=apparmor resume=UUID=462e5d82-aebf-4886-8a60-8a8afd2cf5d5 
  udev.log_priority=3 
  Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 tk: Gtk 3.24.24 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 
  dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B350-PLUS v: Rev X.0x 
  serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: 5220 date: 09/12/2019 
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.63 GiB used: 2.33 GiB (14.9%) 
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:
  Info: 6-Core model: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen+ 
  family: 17 (23) model-id: 8 stepping: 2 microcode: 800820D L2 cache: 3 MiB 
  bogomips: 92254 
  Speed: 1692 MHz min/max: 1550/3850 MHz boost: disabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1692 2: 1468 3: 1372 4: 1373 5: 1537 6: 1374 7: 1372 8: 1372 9: 3197 
  10: 1794 11: 1265 12: 1375 
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1 
  bmi2 bpext clflush clflushopt clzero cmov cmp_legacy constant_tsc cpb cpuid 
  cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de decodeassists extapic extd_apicid f16c flushbyasid 
  fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibpb irperf lahf_lm lbrv lm mca 
  mce misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe msr mtrr mwaitx nonstop_tsc nopl 
  npt nrip_save nx osvw overflow_recov pae pat pausefilter pclmulqdq pdpe1gb 
  perfctr_core perfctr_llc perfctr_nb pfthreshold pge pni popcnt pse pse36 
  rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sep sev sev_es sha_ni skinit smap smca sme 
  smep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 succor svm svm_lock syscall tce 
  topoext tsc tsc_scale v_vmsave_vmload vgif vmcb_clean vme vmmcall wdt 
  xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveerptr xsaveopt xsaves 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
  Type: mds status: Not affected 
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
  Type: spec_store_bypass 
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: 
  disabled, RSB filling 
  Type: srbds status: Not affected 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP104 [GeForce GTX 1060 6GB] vendor: Gigabyte 
  driver: nouveau v: kernel bus ID: 09:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1b83 class ID: 0300 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.10 driver: loaded: nouveau 
  unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa display ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1494 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1016x395mm (40.0x15.6") 
  s-diag: 1090mm (42.9") 
  Monitor-1: DVI-D-2 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 102 
  size: 477x268mm (18.8x10.6") diag: 547mm (21.5") 
  Monitor-2: DP-1 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 82 size: 598x336mm (23.5x13.2") 
  diag: 686mm (27") 
  OpenGL: renderer: NV134 v: 4.3 Mesa 20.3.4 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP104 High Definition Audio vendor: Gigabyte 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 09:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10f0 
  class ID: 0403 
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 0b:00.3 chip ID: 1022:1457 class ID: 0403 
  Device-3: Logitech Webcam C310 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo 
  bus ID: 1-3:2 chip ID: 046d:081b class ID: 0102 serial: <filter> 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.11.1-1-MANJARO 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 class ID: 0200 
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: f000 
  bus ID: 08:00.0 chip ID: 8086:2723 class ID: 0280 
  IF: wlp8s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  broadcast: <filter> 
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link 
  WAN IP: <filter> 
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus ID: 1-6:4 
  chip ID: 8087:0029 class ID: e001 
  Message: Required tool hciconfig not installed. Check --recommends 
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data was found. 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 350.27 GiB used: 9.23 GiB (2.6%) 
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends 
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Transcend model: TS256GSSD370S 
  size: 238.47 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  rotation: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 6KB scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: SanDisk model: SSD PLUS 120GB 
  size: 111.8 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  rotation: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 00RL scheme: MBR 
  Message: No Optical or Floppy data was found. 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw size: 94.6 GiB size: 92.61 GiB (97.90%) used: 9.23 GiB (10.0%) 
  fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 label: N/A 
  uuid: b5020253-8d75-4ad1-abef-d3d0c07dffe0 
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache pressure: 100 (default) 
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 17.2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
  dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18 label: N/A 
  uuid: 462e5d82-aebf-4886-8a60-8a8afd2cf5d5 
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 238.47 GiB fs: f2fs label: N/A 
  uuid: 1add2f54-87f7-42e6-9492-48be6d5fb66f 
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 10 rev: 2.0 
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0002 class ID: 0900 
  Device-1: 1-3:2 info: Logitech Webcam C310 type: Video,Audio 
  driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo interfaces: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s 
  chip ID: 046d:081b class ID: 0102 serial: <filter> 
  Device-2: 1-4:3 info: Xiaomi Mi/Redmi series (MTP) type: <vendor specific> 
  driver: N/A interfaces: 1 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 2717:ff40 
  class ID: 0000 serial: <filter> 
  Device-3: 1-6:4 info: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: Bluetooth driver: btusb 
  interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s chip ID: 8087:0029 class ID: e001 
  Device-4: 1-7:5 info: Hoksi DURGOD Taurus K320 type: Keyboard,HID 
  driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s 
  chip ID: 2f68:0082 class ID: 0300 
  Device-5: 1-10:6 info: Razer USA Viper (wired) type: Mouse,Keyboard 
  driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s 
  chip ID: 1532:0078 class ID: 0301 
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s 
  chip ID: 1d6b:0003 class ID: 0900 
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0002 class ID: 0900 
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s 
  chip ID: 1d6b:0003 class ID: 0900 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 49.0 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nouveau fan: 0 
Info:
  Processes: 299 Uptime: 22m wakeups: 0 Init: systemd v: 247 Compilers: 
  gcc: N/A Packages: pacman: 1167 lib: 398 flatpak: 0 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.0 
  running in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.01 

This is a new install, and I have not done any tweaking- what do I be missing?

note: there is another small issue i am having todo with the task bar. Im total noob at posting so i wont risk a roast for doing the wrong thing if i can avoid it, so if its a task bar issue i can possibly elaborate further. I have like, totally changed my window manager and backagian, and in the process fixed anything else. The issue with the application menu is still here though.