slouch

[ slouch ]

verb (used without object)

1. to sit or stand with an awkward, drooping posture.
2. to move or walk with loosely drooping body and careless gait.
3. to have a droop or downward bend, as a hat.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to droop or bend down, as the shoulders or a hat.

noun

1. a drooping or bending forward of the head and shoulders; an awkward, drooping posture or carriage.
2. an awkward, clumsy, or slovenly person.
3. slouch hat.
4. a lazy, inept, or inefficient person.

   Synonyms: sluggard, loafer, laggard

slouch

/ slaʊtʃ /

verb

1. intr to sit or stand with a drooping bearing
2. intr to walk or move with an awkward slovenly gait
3. tr to cause (the shoulders) to droop

noun

1. a drooping carriage
2. informal.
   usually used in negative constructions an incompetent or slovenly person

   he's no slouch at football

Derived Forms

• ˈslouching, adjective
• ˈslouchingly, adverb
• ˈsloucher, noun

Other Words From

• sloucher noun
• slouching·ly adverb
• un·slouched adjective
• un·slouching adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slouch¹

First recorded in 1505–15; origin uncertain

Word History and Origins

Origin of slouch¹

C16: of unknown origin

Example Sentences

He was no slouch musically, either.

From Los Angeles Times

Yankee Stadium, which was rebuilt in 2009, is no slouch either.

From Los Angeles Times

Set in the lead-up to and aftermath of President Lincoln’s assassination, Booth favors statement pieces such as a black felt slouch hat.

From Los Angeles Times

But the actual science doesn’t support the conventional wisdom about proper posture, Beth Linker argues in her new book, “Slouch: Posture Panic in Modern America.”

From New York Times

Palmer herself was no slouch: “Country Girl,” her 2007 anthem of rural camaraderie, had been the first song by a Black woman to infiltrate country’s charts in two decades.

From New York Times

Related Words

• crouch
• droop
• loll