sluggard 1 of 2

noun

ˈslə-gərd How to pronounce sluggard (audio)
Definition of sluggardnext
as in slug
a lazy person tried to wake up the sluggards who were still sleeping at that late hour

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

sluggard

2 of 2

adjective

as in slothful

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

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 sluggard
Noun
Scar then proceeds to desolate the kingdom, with the help of hyenas, while Simba, in exile, grows up to become a pleasure-hunting, grub-eating sluggard. — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 July 2019 Clearly, supervision at your job is lax, and your sluggard classmate is taking advantage of that. — Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2017 Slug was – is – a variant on sluggard, which was actually used as a surname for some time, apparently. — Ruth Walker, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2017 French workers, whom the British like to dismiss as holiday-hogging sluggards, are more productive than the British. — The Economist, 31 Aug. 2017
Adjective
The stock really has not done much of anything in the last five years, the stock following a similar sluggard pattern of the company’s revenue line. — Moneyshow, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sluggard
  1. slug
  2. slothful
  3. snail
  4. lazy
  5. drone
  6. indolent
  7. idler
  8. shiftless
Noun
  • Trim back the dead foliage in fall to improve your garden’s appearance and prevent slug eggs from overwintering.
    — Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Families can learn about slugs, spiders, vultures and more during Creepy Critters Month at the Knoch Knolls Nature Center, 320 Knoch Knolls Road, a park district news release said.
    — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of slug
Adjective
  • Holes left lying around for even the most slothful of AI are just begging for an easy AI escape.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2026
  • That they would be regarded as slothful morons who aren't worth the price of a ticket of admission.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 2 Feb. 2026
Definition of slothful
Noun
  • The inflatable horses, butterflies, snails and other creatures were made by the New York artist and designer Katie Stout.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Aquarium officials received some 500 marine animals from that operation on June 19, taking in an array of fish, sharks, clams, shrimp, prawns and tiny snails.
    — John Donegan LONG BEACH POST, Arkansas Online, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of snail
Adjective
  • And Congress ought to be – Congress ought to get up off its ice-cold lazy butt and cut it itself.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2026
  • With a lazy summer in our rear view and hectic school and job schedules around the bend, ‘tis the season for overworking ourselves.
    — Cheryl Fenton, Flow Space, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of lazy
Noun
  • Asif said the Houthis had intensified missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and expanded their control along Yemen's Red Sea coast.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The drone remains a prototype, and the competition demonstrated its payload-carrying capability rather than establishing its readiness for operational deployment.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of drone
Adjective
  • Screenings in healthy adults are also more likely to catch indolent disease, meaning slow-growing or static conditions, than aggressive ones.
    — Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Possibly a deepening and widening of populist politics, as both the far right and the far left win over more of the allegedly indolent youth.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of indolent
Noun
  • Their name exudes the essence of an idler and slacker, but women’s loafers themselves are quite the opposite.
    — Gaby Keiderling, Harper's BAZAAR, 19 Jan. 2023
  • This represents the loss of an idea of what the capital should represent, the removal of a place that was an idler’s haven.
    — Anandi Mishra, The Atlantic, 30 July 2022
Definition of idler
Adjective
  • Why didn’t Tania just get one of her fellow Council wokesters to hire her shiftless, entitled kin?
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 28 Sep. 2025
  • After the volunteers slink back to Paddy’s, the most shiftless person on campus will once again be Principal Coleman (Janelle James), whose ineptitude and vanity don’t prevent her from advocating for the students from time to time.
    — Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 9 Jan. 2025
Definition of shiftless

Browse Nearby Words

slugfests
sluggard
sluggardly
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sluggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sluggard. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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