as in lazy
not easily aroused to action or work
his overly lax managerial style has resulted in a department that is slothful and unproductive
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 slothful
Soviet Russia, too, experienced periodic panics about slothful bureaucrats impeding the dictatorship of the proletariat.
—
Charlie Tyson, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025
At our test track, the buzzy little SUV needed a slothful 9.2 seconds to hit 60 mph.
—Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 23 Dec. 2022
Procrastination can be slothful or prudent, a vice or a virtue, depending on your habits and the tasks at hand.
—Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2021
Selfish, feckless, self-deluded, weak-willed yet childishly willful, manipulative, slothful, and mendacious: How can such a despicable character also be such a likable one?
—Sigrid Nunez, Harper's Magazine, 28 Sep. 2021
After releasing 12 albums in 13 months, Twin Cities guitarist Cory Wong will end his momentarily slothful ways and drop just his second album this year.
—Jon Bream, Star Tribune, 11 May 2021
At the same time, others construed even the most slothful forms of idleness as a bold resistance to modernity’s greatest ills.
—Ingrid Nelson, The Conversation, 19 Mar. 2021
The pilfered offspring return with the raiders to their nests, then hatch and grow up to become live-in slaves, tasked with the feeding and care of their slothful masters and their masters’ brood.
—Brendan Borrell, Discover Magazine, 10 Apr. 2013
Charlie Tyson, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025
At our test track, the buzzy little SUV needed a slothful 9.2 seconds to hit 60 mph.
—Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 23 Dec. 2022
Procrastination can be slothful or prudent, a vice or a virtue, depending on your habits and the tasks at hand.
—Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2021
Selfish, feckless, self-deluded, weak-willed yet childishly willful, manipulative, slothful, and mendacious: How can such a despicable character also be such a likable one?
—Sigrid Nunez, Harper's Magazine, 28 Sep. 2021
After releasing 12 albums in 13 months, Twin Cities guitarist Cory Wong will end his momentarily slothful ways and drop just his second album this year.
—Jon Bream, Star Tribune, 11 May 2021
At the same time, others construed even the most slothful forms of idleness as a bold resistance to modernity’s greatest ills.
—Ingrid Nelson, The Conversation, 19 Mar. 2021
The pilfered offspring return with the raiders to their nests, then hatch and grow up to become live-in slaves, tasked with the feeding and care of their slothful masters and their masters’ brood.
—Brendan Borrell, Discover Magazine, 10 Apr. 2013
Recent Examples of Synonyms for slothful
Adjective
-
Forest walks, lazy lake days, midday swims, and evening bonfires are a part of your regular day.—
Miles Walls,
Better Homes & Gardens,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Camels seem slow, hippos clumsy, phoenixes unstable, lions lazy.—
Francois Botha,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
There’s some idle speculation in the films about where the Xenomorphs sit on the evolutionary ladder, and nearly every Alien story at some point deals with the question of whether synthetic creations care about their makers.—
Noel Murray,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The display can smartly scale down to 1Hz when idle and now comes with a new anti-reflective coating.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Slothful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/slothful. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share