as in lazy
not easily aroused to action or work
shiftless spongers who never thought to do anything for themselves
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Recent Examples of shiftless
The film, like How to Train Your Dragon, is about a shiftless youngster (Lilo, a Hawaiian girl who has been acting out since the death of her parents) bonding with a fantasy creature (Stitch, a blue alien experiment designed as a weapon of destruction).
—
David Sims, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
Expectations of real gains in livelihoods among China’s large, increasingly shiftless rural population will be much harder to fulfill in an era of slower growth.
—Scott Rozelle and Matthew Boswell, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2022
After the volunteers slink back to Paddy’s, the most shiftless person on campus will once again be Principal Coleman (Janelle James), whose ineptitude and vanity don’t prevent her from advocating for the students from time to time.
—Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2025
Just as Let’s Start Here tapped the Yves Tumor and Caroline Polachek regulars Justin Raisen and Patrick Wimberly to steer its lysergic pop, Bad Cameo solicits heady, shiftless synthesizer compositions to showcase different dimensions in Lil Yachty’s voice.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 July 2024
Gill’s benevolent steadfastness is supported by his loving, tolerant wife (Shailene Woodley) but mocked by his shiftless brother (a very funny Pete Davidson), who urges him to cash in.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023
The filmmaker wrote, directed, shot, edited, and starred in this essentially plotless Super 16 slice-of-life about a shiftless Austin dude who couch surfs across the state.
—A.a. Dowd, Chron, 4 Apr. 2023
But eventually the smart lower class people will have descendants who are in the upper class, while the shiftless upper class individuals of earlier generations will have descendants who move down the class hierarchy after exhausting their inheritances.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 24 June 2012
Their anger focused on a faceless government that neglected people like them and on supposedly shiftless immigrants and minorities who feasted at the public trough.
—Helen Epstein, The New York Review of Books, 10 Mar. 2020
David Sims, The Atlantic, 13 June 2025
Expectations of real gains in livelihoods among China’s large, increasingly shiftless rural population will be much harder to fulfill in an era of slower growth.
—Scott Rozelle and Matthew Boswell, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2022
After the volunteers slink back to Paddy’s, the most shiftless person on campus will once again be Principal Coleman (Janelle James), whose ineptitude and vanity don’t prevent her from advocating for the students from time to time.
—Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2025
Just as Let’s Start Here tapped the Yves Tumor and Caroline Polachek regulars Justin Raisen and Patrick Wimberly to steer its lysergic pop, Bad Cameo solicits heady, shiftless synthesizer compositions to showcase different dimensions in Lil Yachty’s voice.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 July 2024
Gill’s benevolent steadfastness is supported by his loving, tolerant wife (Shailene Woodley) but mocked by his shiftless brother (a very funny Pete Davidson), who urges him to cash in.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2023
The filmmaker wrote, directed, shot, edited, and starred in this essentially plotless Super 16 slice-of-life about a shiftless Austin dude who couch surfs across the state.
—A.a. Dowd, Chron, 4 Apr. 2023
But eventually the smart lower class people will have descendants who are in the upper class, while the shiftless upper class individuals of earlier generations will have descendants who move down the class hierarchy after exhausting their inheritances.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 24 June 2012
Their anger focused on a faceless government that neglected people like them and on supposedly shiftless immigrants and minorities who feasted at the public trough.
—Helen Epstein, The New York Review of Books, 10 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shiftless
Adjective
-
The water park has something for everyone—from high-speed slides and a wave pool to a relaxing lazy river and kid-only water slides.—
Lydia Mansel,
Southern Living,
29 June 2025
-
Giant tanks of lazy swimmers sit sandwiched between fields of cows and ponds of striped bass, carefully tended by three generations of the Evans family.—
Kylie Williams,
Miami Herald,
29 June 2025
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, the rapid rise in prominence of a US military base in western Saudi Arabia that for years sat idle suggests conflict with Iran had been anticipated, The New York Times reported.—
Kelsey Warner,
semafor.com,
30 June 2025
-
Meanwhile, Warwick’s engineering workshop had a CNC machine sitting idle.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Shiftless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shiftless. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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