as in slugs
a lazy person
he snapped instructions to the deadbeats who were standing around watching the work pile up
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Recent Examples of deadbeats
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
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 Summers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
Adam B. Summers,
Oc Register,
25 Apr. 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 Summers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deadbeats
Noun
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Prevent snails and slugs by watering your plants in the morning so the soil dries before nightfall.
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Coffee grounds are great for keeping snails and slugs out of your flower beds and off your plants, while naturally enriching your soil at the same time.
Noun
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Because Hezbollah’s fiber-optic drones are so hard to detect, experts say multiple types of sensors are often needed simultaneously to accurately identify incoming threats – among them, optical, acoustic, radar and laser-based systems.
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Iran's neighbors, Kuwait and Bahrain, reported incoming missiles and drones overnight.
Noun
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So, too, do simultaneous hermaphrodites, a collection of creatures that includes most species of land snails, slugs, and earthworms.
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In outdoor ferns, slugs and snails can chew holes in fronds.
Noun
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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.
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As the story begins, Mary and Boo are neighbors, unemployed millennial layabouts who rarely leave their rooms.
Noun
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History buffs, avid hikers, music lovers, wine aficionados, and beach bums will all find a town to love in the Old Dominion.
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For ski bums looking to hit the Colorado slopes without slogging through I-70 traffic, there’s no better destination than Winter Park.
Noun
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Wilde styled hers with a sheer, oversized white button-down and black loafers, while Zendaya paired a similar skirt with a graphic tee and loafers of her own.
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More polished than a sandal (especially those of the flip-flop variety), loafers bring an unexpected attitude to dresses—on in Kendall Jenner’s case, an oversized button-up—with their gamine, preppy charm.
Cite this Entry
“Deadbeats.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deadbeats. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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