sluggard

1 of 2

noun

slug·​gard ˈslə-gərd How to pronounce sluggard (audio)
: a habitually lazy person

sluggard

2 of 2

adjective

sluggardness noun

Examples of sluggard in a Sentence

Noun tried to wake up the sluggards who were still sleeping at that late hour
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Scar then proceeds to desolate the kingdom, with the help of hyenas, while Simba, in exile, grows up to become a pleasure-hunting, grub-eating sluggard. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 July 2019 Clearly, supervision at your job is lax, and your sluggard classmate is taking advantage of that. Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2017 Slug was – is – a variant on sluggard, which was actually used as a surname for some time, apparently. Ruth Walker, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2017 French workers, whom the British like to dismiss as holiday-hogging sluggards, are more productive than the British. The Economist, 31 Aug. 2017
Adjective
The stock really has not done much of anything in the last five years, the stock following a similar sluggard pattern of the company’s revenue line. Moneyshow, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sluggard.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English sluggart

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1557, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sluggard was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near sluggard

Cite this Entry

“Sluggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sluggard. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

sluggard

noun
slug·​gard
ˈsləg-ərd
: a lazy person
sluggard adjective
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