Synonyms of slothful

slothful

adjective

ˈslȯth-fəl 

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

• lazy
• idle
• indolent
• shiftless
• sleepy
• dull
• lethargic
• apathetic
• sluggish
• listless
• torpid
• languorous
• drowsy
• quiescent
• inert
• supine
• lazyish

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• industrious
• diligent
• zealous
• ambitious
• enterprising
• active
• vigorous
• energetic
• dynamic
• exuberant
• spirited
• lively
• brisk
• sprightly
• perky
• vivacious
• animated
• frisky
• springy
• jaunty
• pert
• bouncing
• snappy
• jazzy
• peppy
• zippy

Synonym Chooser

How is the word slothful distinct from other similar adjectives?

The words indolent and lazy are common synonyms of slothful. While all three words mean "not easily aroused to activity," slothful implies a temperamental inability to act promptly or speedily when action or speed is called for.

fired for being slothful about filling orders

When is indolent a more appropriate choice than slothful?

The synonyms indolent and slothful are sometimes interchangeable, but indolent suggests a love of ease and a dislike of movement or activity.

the heat made us indolent

Where would lazy be a reasonable alternative to slothful?

The meanings of lazy and slothful largely overlap; however, lazy suggests a disinclination to work or to take trouble.

take-out foods for lazy cooks

Example Sentences

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

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

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

The proud stagger beneath a sack of boulders, and the slothful atone with manic activity. —Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 13 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