lazy 1 of 2

lazy

2 of 2

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 lazy
Adjective
Sarin Mathews Women’s Sweatpants A comfortable pair of pants is a wardrobe essential for everything from long flights to lazy days at home. Rosie Marder, Travel + Leisure, 26 Sep. 2025 As for the tourney’s final broadcast, NBC figures the lazy Sunday allure of afternoon channel surfing should help lure viewers to the links during breaks in the NFL action. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 25 Sep. 2025 While Devo and their energy domes have their own lazy interpretations to deal with, Schneider wants to make one thing perfectly clear about his legacy. Devon Ivie, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025 The Laziness Myth The caricature of Gen Z as lazy and entitled is both timeless and new. Jennifer Moss, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lazy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lazy
Adjective
  • The store’s lease runs for several more years and city officials do not want the building to sit idle.
    Steven Rosenfeld, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
  • 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
Adjective
  • But Thomas has been lazy all year and lost a catch Sunday being careless with his feet on what should have been an easy completion on the sideline, unable to get a second foot down with a lot of room.
    Michael Salfino, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • The subsequent uncertainty and introspection are exacerbated during a pre-festival press conference, which becomes a flashpoint when the cast and crew come under fire for an allegedly careless adaptation.
    Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 28 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Democrats’ most visible strategy appears to be trying to bum a few bucks from the grassroots—when the grassroots’ greatest power is in protest, boycott, and other unified mobilization efforts.
    Sarah Stankorb, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Alabama gave Georgia its first home loss in six years with a 24-21 constriction; Oregon rode a pair of Moores (Dante and Dakorien) to bum out Happy Valley in extra time.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Unlike Bacalar, which is relatively new to tourism, Tulum has been transformed from a sleepy backwater into a pumping party town.
    Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Most days are quiet in Armenia’s sleepy southern province of Syunik.
    Michele Crestani, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • In June 2024, a U.S. Senate Finance Committee released a report that exposed the abusive and neglectful practices of youth residential treatment facilities like the fictional Tall Pines Academy.
    Erin McMullen, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
  • 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
Verb
  • Instead of setting up a spot on the sand, beachgoers typically pitch their chairs in the shallow clear blue water and laze the day away.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2025
  • Conrad is literally ready to skip his whole Brussels conference in order to laze around in bed with Belly for the next several days, but Belly has cold feet.
    Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 17 Sep. 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
Verb
  • But the continuous immigration raids are chilling the business climate, said Grace Resendez McCaffery, publisher of La Costa Latina, a Spanish-language newspaper distributed in Baldwin and nearby counties.
    Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
  • While wandering the orchards and picking up desserts are seasonal staples, chilling with a cup of coffee — or four — is a similarly relaxing way to take in the rolling hills.
    Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lazy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lazy. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on lazy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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