Synonyms of shiftless

shiftless

adjective

ˈshif(t)-ləs 

as in lazy

not easily aroused to action or work

shiftless spongers who never thought to do anything for themselves

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lazy
• idle
• indolent
• slothful
• sleepy
• dull
• apathetic
• listless
• lethargic
• sluggish
• inert
• quiescent
• torpid
• drowsy
• languorous
• supine
• lazyish

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• industrious
• ambitious
• enterprising
• zealous
• diligent
• active
• dynamic
• energetic
• spirited
• vigorous
• exuberant
• lively
• vivacious
• animated
• perky
• frisky
• sprightly
• bouncing
• brisk
• jaunty
• pert
• snappy
• springy
• jazzy
• peppy
• zippy

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shiftless

Why didn’t Tania just get one of her fellow Council wokesters to hire her shiftless, entitled kin? — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 28 Sep. 2025

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

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

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

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