as in lingerer
one who deliberately avoids work or duty
even before we weighed anchor, the captain forcefully served notice that there would be no shirkers on his ship
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shirker
Noun
-
Boomers saw Gen Xers, that’s me, as cynical slackers.—
Harvard Business Review,
Harvard Business Review,
30 Dec. 2025 -
This film is set days after Christmas and follows three slacker friends who are hired to transport a troubled teen across the country.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
One of Iran’s most recent threats came from Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a former senior adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, during the 12 Day War last year, threatening a drone strike against the president at Mar-a-Lago.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
21 Jan. 2026
-
The vastness was staggering (this is apparent in the drone shot of us in this Instagram post below, taken by our trip photographer James Roh).—
Maya Silver,
Outside,
20 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Coffee grounds are also often used to deter slugs and snails, reduce weeds without chemicals, and even repel neighborhood strays.—
Lauren Landers,
The Spruce,
21 Jan. 2026
-
Garden snakes have important roles in your landscape, eating insects and invertebrates such as slugs and providing food for birds of prey such as hawks and owls.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
19 Jan. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Shirker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shirker. Accessed 27 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
