laziness 1 of 3

lazy

2 of 3

adjective

lazy

3 of 3

verb

Synonym Chooser

How is the word lazy distinct from other similar adjectives?

The words indolent and slothful are common synonyms of lazy. While all three words mean "not easily aroused to activity," lazy suggests a disinclination to work or to take trouble.

take-out foods for lazy cooks

When is it sensible to use indolent instead of lazy?

Although the words indolent and lazy have much in common, indolent suggests a love of ease and a dislike of movement or activity.

the heat made us indolent

When might slothful be a better fit than lazy?

While in some cases nearly identical to lazy, slothful implies a temperamental inability to act promptly or speedily when action or speed is called for.

fired for being slothful about filling orders

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 laziness
Noun
Slides, hoodie w/ headphones just signals laziness. Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 22 Aug. 2025 The daters Julie Nguyen works with are more likely to be floored by the laziness, spelling errors, and sheer audacity of the people on the other end. Angela Haupt, Time, 11 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The lazy story is that Kodak missed the shift to digital imaging. Scott D. Anthony, Big Think, 16 Sep. 2025 Add a microSD card and you’re set for road trips and lazy Sundays. PC Magazine, 16 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for laziness
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laziness
Noun
  • This might look like prolonged dependence on parents for housing and finances, difficulty committing to work or education, avoidance of romantic or social commitments or a general inertia around planning for the future.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Driven by the balance between gravity and inertia, the weight shifts automatically as vibrations change.
    Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Part of a software update, advertisements will appear on certain refrigerator cover screens when the Family Hub fridge is idle.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2025
  • By mapping the pipeline, visualizing handoffs, limiting work in progress and setting alerts for idle work, teams can uncover hidden blockers and improve flow without extra resources.
    Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • One careless click can expose your information.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Tom’s doomed desire for Vivien—and for her vanished twenty-first-century world—shows how people in the future may yearn for the past, though the past itself proves neglectful and careless of the future.
    Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • That’s what was bumming him out.
    Emily Longeretta, Variety, 3 Sep. 2025
  • To be this close over and over is really bumming me out.
    Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Then, on a sleepy Saturday afternoon, the same man turned up unannounced at our family home in Ireland.
    Nicole Flattery, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • As your celestial ruler, Venus, takes a dip in your sleepy 12th house of resting, retreating and surrendering to the ebb and flow of your spirit, you’re encouraged to slow down.
    Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • This film would have brought the Harlem Renaissance and its luminaries to far greater prominence, during an era that was often neglectful of that movement’s heroes—and of new Black artists, too, as Greaves himself experienced.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Leaning into the disco-country of much of Man’s Best Friend, Carpenter sings about a neglectful lover.
    Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Play croquet or shuffleboard on the property, head down to the beach and laze under one of the hotel’s cabanas, or borrow a bicycle to cruise into town.
    Sophie Friedman, AFAR Media, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Located on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, Los Cabos is a great destination to laze about beachside or go on a deep-sea excursion.
    Essence, Essence, 25 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Sixty-five-year-old Jep Gambardella, indolent and disenchanted, his eyes permanently imbued with gin and tonic, watches this parade of hollow, doomed, powerful yet depressed humanity.
    Leo Barraclough, Variety, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Her tumor appears ominous but is, by nature, indolent—slow-growing, noninvasive, never destined to threaten her life.
    Siddhartha Mukherjee, New Yorker, 16 June 2025

Cite this Entry

“Laziness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laziness. Accessed 26 Sep. 2025.

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