SLUGGARD Synonyms: 111 Similar and Opposite Words

sluggard 1 of 2

noun

ˈslə-gərd

Definition of sluggard

as in slug

a lazy person tried to wake up the sluggards who were still sleeping at that late hour

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

sluggard

2 of 2

adjective

as in slothful

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of sluggard

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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sluggard

Noun

The iron sights of my new slug barrel came to rest on the target—still more than 60 yards away.

— Don J. Dinndorf, Outdoor Life, 31 Oct. 2026
The Phillies, built on slug and stardom, also began passing the baton.

— Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of slug

Noun

The tiny snail was first detected in Michigan in 2015 and was previously found in Au Sable, Boardman, Grass, Pere Marquette, Pine and Upper Manistee rivers in Northern Michigan.

— Paula Wethington, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026
And those kelp forests are—or were—marvels of diversity, providing a shelter for a wild array of ocean creatures from jeweled top sea snails to barrel-bodied harbor seals.

— Joseph Ogilvy, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of snail

Noun

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 493 drones were fired toward the capital.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Nov. 2026
Since her 2019 debut, PURGE, which drew from her experiences in the New York and Berlin rave and punk scenes, Chen has been moving toward ever-sharper contrasts between caustic drones and close-mic’d croons.

— James Gui, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of drone

Adjective

Screenings in healthy adults are also more likely to catch indolent disease, meaning slow-growing or static conditions, than aggressive ones.

— Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Sep. 2026
Possibly a deepening and widening of populist politics, as both the far right and the far left win over more of the allegedly indolent youth.

— Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of indolent

Noun

Their name exudes the essence of an idler and slacker, but women’s loafers themselves are quite the opposite.

— Gaby Keiderling, Harper's BAZAAR, 19 Jan. 2023
This represents the loss of an idea of what the capital should represent, the removal of a place that was an idler’s haven.

— Anandi Mishra, The Atlantic, 30 July 2022

Definition of idler

Adjective

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

Definition of shiftless

Browse Nearby Words

slugfests

sluggard

sluggardly

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Sluggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sluggard. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of sluggard

noun

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

fulsome

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes