layabout

noun

ˈlā-ə-ˌbau̇t How to pronounce layabout (audio)
Definition of layaboutnext
as in slug
a lazy person she regretted ever asking that layabout to be her roommate, as he created the mess of two people and refused to help with anything

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 layabout As the story begins, Mary and Boo are neighbors, unemployed millennial layabouts who rarely leave their rooms. — Katie Rife, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2026 Tamma’s mother is partnered with a drug-dealing layabout; Dan’s mother, a onetime successful novelist, has a worsening heart condition. — Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2026 Not surprisingly, some colonists preferred to be layabouts. — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 27 Nov. 2025 Moore’s then-husband Bruce Willis plays against-type as the abusive layabout husband of hairdresser Joyce (Glenne Headly). — Katie Rife, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for layabout
Recent Examples of Synonyms for layabout
  1. slug
  2. drone
  3. bum
  4. deadbeat
  5. idler
  6. snail
  7. sluggard
  8. slouch
Noun
  • But in an aging lineup that has lacked slug for the majority of the second half, an absence such this is not nearly as easy to cover.
    — Katie Woo, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • On a late November afternoon in 1991, Sam Aiuppa climbed into a stand and dropped a slug into his Remington 870.
    — Scott Einsmann, Outdoor Life, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of slug
Noun
  • The sheriff's office's drone was used to assist in checking the approximately 28-acre property and helped identify old kennel and animal-confinement areas.
    — River Valley Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026
  • After the closing bell Wednesday, drone maker AeroVironment and retailer American Eagle Outfitters report.
    — Jeff Marks,Zev Fima, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of drone
Noun
  • Cocktail chatter on the Lido held that this was a more minor work than anticipated, and many of those positive reviews nevertheless included a few bum notes.
    — Nate Jones, Vulture, 4 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 bum
Noun
  • In the fight for the right to be yourself, there are a lot of barriers to being accepted as a female deadbeat.
    — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Alas, there’s not enough time for this deadbeat to blossom into a real dad.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of deadbeat
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
Noun
  • There’s another Bourne film moving its way through development at a snail’s pace.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Sometime in the last million or so years, the snail had undergone a whole-genome duplication.
    — Carrie Arnold Contributing, Quanta Magazine, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of snail
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
Definition of sluggard
Noun
  • The 29-year-old was no slouch either, racking up 22 goals and 17 assists in 44 games across the Bundesliga and Champions League.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The rest of the range is no slouch in the endurance department, either.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of slouch

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Cite this Entry

“Layabout.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/layabout. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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