sloth

[ slawth slohth ]

noun

1. habitual disinclination to exertion; laziness; indolence:

   Indifference, negligence, and sloth have no place in the classroom.

   Synonyms: idleness

2. any of several slow-moving, arboreal, tropical American edentates of the family Bradypodidae, having a long, coarse, grayish-brown coat often of a greenish cast caused by algae, and long, hooklike claws used in gripping tree branches while hanging or moving along in a habitual upside-down position.
3. a pack or group of bears.

sloth

/ sləʊθ /

noun

1. any of several shaggy-coated arboreal edentate mammals of the family Bradypodidae, esp Bradypus tridactylus ( three-toed sloth or ai ) or Choloepus didactylus ( two-toed sloth or unau ), of Central and South America. They are slow-moving, hanging upside down by their long arms and feeding on vegetation
2. reluctance to work or exert oneself

Word History and Origins

Origin of sloth¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English slowth; replacing Old English slǣwth, derivative of slǣw, variant of slāw “slow”; slow, -th ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of sloth¹

Old English slǣwth; from slǣw, variant of slāw slow

Example Sentences

Immense ground sloths shambled on land and even swam offshore.

From Science News

On a day during the late Ice Age, a young adult or teen carrying a toddler hustled across a muddy flat where mammoths and giant sloths roamed.

From Science News

While it is unclear if the mammoth sensed the human presence, the giant ground sloth rose onto its hind legs and moved in circles, suggesting that it knew that there was a human nearby, the researchers say.

From Science News

A little digging revealed fossilized human footprints as well as those from a mammoth and ground sloth.

From Science News

Mammoths and a giant ground sloth crossed the tracks in the travelers’ wake, trampling some of the footprints.

From Ars Technica

Hard-wired into the psyche of many is the idea that somehow time off is akin to sloth.

From The Daily Beast

This disease was thought to stem from bad climate, and sloth.

From The Daily Beast

Here are the Russians, they will punish us for our sloth and hubris, but if we make Johnny read better!

From The Daily Beast

Thanksgiving is about sloth and gluttony, as well as a dash of envy and greed.

From The Daily Beast

The conservative narrative would be built around some idea of liberal licentiousness or sloth or some such.

From The Daily Beast

This is one of the truths which sloth, rapacity and extravagance are slow to learn, yet which they cannot safely ignore.

From Project Gutenberg

Sloth in women is cured either by vanity or love; though, in vivacious women, it is an omen of love.

From Project Gutenberg

But for the rest of her days she lay luxuriously folded on herself and sunk in sloth and pleasure.

From Project Gutenberg

Some creatures excel in cunning, some in reason, some in activity, some in sloth—all have certain proclivities.

From Project Gutenberg

I no longer habitually cherish physical sloth and luxury, which excite to excessive sensuality.

From Project Gutenberg