1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

shirkers

noun

plural of shirker
as in slackers
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 shirkers
  1. slackers
  2. lingerers
  3. drones
  4. slugs
Noun
  • From there, Blair conceived Mark Southard and Davis Hench, two wildly different, aging slackers who are tasked with driving teenage scion Sheridan Kimberly to rehab on behalf of his disengaged billionaire parents.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Each, in their way, is ambitious — no room for slackers here!
    — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
Definition of slackers
Noun
  • Nakamura designs for lingerers.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 1 Apr. 2026
Definition of lingerers
Noun
  • More critically, Saudi Arabia has shut down its East-West pipeline, after drones launched from Iraq damaged the key oil export channel.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Dozens of American aircraft and drones also were destroyed or damaged.
    — Ben Finley, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of drones
Noun
  • 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
  • Remember to bury the container deep enough to let the slugs in and out.
    — Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of slugs
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

shirker
shirkers
shirking
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shirkers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shirkers. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of churlish

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

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

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All