deadbeats

noun

plural of deadbeat
as in slugs
a lazy person he snapped instructions to the deadbeats who were standing around watching the work pile up

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 deadbeats In the film Rap World (which Bensinger also edited), Bensinger, O’Malley, and Rahill play suburban deadbeats eager to make an album, each man waylaid by his own hubris and distractions. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026 Housing prices and rents are inflated by restrictive zoning laws, union work and pay scale mandates, excessive building codes and environmental requirements, litigation and planning process delays, anti-landlord policies that favor deadbeats and squatters, and the list goes on. — Adam B. Summers, Oc Register, 25 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deadbeats
  1. slugs
  2. drones
  3. snails
  4. layabouts
  5. bums
  6. loafers
Noun
  • Look for slugs and snails feeding on both moss and algae on logs.
    — Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Pest control Many common rose pests — including rose slugs, thrips, chilli thrips, and spider mites — pupate in the soil or overwinter in fallen plant debris.
    — Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of slugs
Noun
  • Russia launched 164 drones across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, 137 of which were shot down, the Ukrainian Air Force said that morning.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Other substations in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions were also damaged, as Russia also launched 172 drones in the attack.
    — Muskan Bhatia, Interesting Engineering, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of drones
Noun
  • Look for slugs and snails feeding on both moss and algae on logs.
    — Pamm Cooper, Hartford Courant, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Under Mulch Squash bugs, slugs, snails, and various sorts of grubs prefer cozier hiding places like the thick layers of mulch spread throughout your garden.
    — Lauren Landers, The Spruce, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of snails
Noun
  • And typically, Wegmann added, those units are occupied by productive, working adults, not layabouts or career criminals leeching off the system, as the old narrative goes.
    — Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Mar. 2026
  • As the story begins, Mary and Boo are neighbors, unemployed millennial layabouts who rarely leave their rooms.
    — Katie Rife, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2026
Definition of layabouts
Noun
  • Zellers poured the foundation, and Morrison hired fellow ski bums to do the framing, masonry, and tiling.
    — Nick Paumgarten, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Within the often zany and slapstick realm of Bob’s Burgers, Tina still manages to steal the show with her singular voice, romantic fantasies, and obsessions with unicorns and boy bums.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of bums
Noun
  • Add a slim leather belt with a statement buckle and a pair of loafers to bring some of the decade’s signature swagger into your everyday wardrobe.
    — Georgia Brown, Glamour, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Sneakers were at the top of the category in 2024, but loafers have exceeded them in volume to represent about one-third of the men’s business.
    — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of loafers

Browse Nearby Words

deadbeat
deadbeats
deaden
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Deadbeats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deadbeats. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of lissome

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

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

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

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
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All