DO-NOTHINGS Synonyms: 77 Similar and Opposite Words

do-nothings

noun

plural of do-nothing

as in slugs

a lazy person the new boss quickly figured out who the do-nothings were and fired them

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in bums

an idle worthless person he indiscriminately dismisses the state legislators as a bunch of do-nothings who live at the taxpayers' expense

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for do-nothings

Noun

Families can learn about slugs, spiders, vultures and more during Creepy Critters Month at the Knoch Knolls Nature Center, 320 Knoch Knolls Road, a park district news release said.

— Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
With the light load of powder that was behind them, these slugs couldn’t possibly have killed the tigress unless an extremely lucky shot had put them into a vital area at very close range.

— Leslie E. Tassell, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of slugs

Noun

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
Kennedy’s Albany is a vital, violent place, a hothouse of gangsters, pool hustlers, bums, crooked politicians, and showgirls.

— Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of bums

Noun

Riley was a direct inspiration on the record, and while the Bay Area composer did work with drones, his influence is more poignant here, in the way Schwendener breaks the melody down into pieces and moves them around.

— Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 4 Oct. 2026
Chinese media also reported that participating forces were stationed underground during the exercise to protect them from drone attacks, illustrating how persistent aerial surveillance and strike drones are changing battlefield operations.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of drones

Noun

The inflatable horses, butterflies, snails and other creatures were made by the New York artist and designer Katie Stout.

— Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2026
Aquarium officials received some 500 marine animals from that operation on June 19, taking in an array of fish, sharks, clams, shrimp, prawns and tiny snails.

— John Donegan LONG BEACH POST, Arkansas Online, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of snails

Noun

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

Definition of deadbeats

Noun

From feeding hobos on the back porch in the night in the Great Depression to marching against wars for oil in the Eighties and Nineties.

— Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026
The former, in which Burnett and Hamilton did a song-and-dance routine as Dust Bowl-era hobos, marked the first of several times that the two performed together.

— Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025

Definition of hoboes

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.

Browse Nearby Words

do-nothing

do-nothings

Don Quixote

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Do-nothings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/do-nothings. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of do-nothings

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

regimen

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

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

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes