slothful

[ slawth-fuhl, slohth- ]

adjective

1. sluggardly; indolent; lazy.

   Synonyms: slack, torpid, inactive, sluggish

slothful

/ ˈsləʊθfʊl /

adjective

1. indolent

Derived Forms

• ˈslothfulness, noun
• ˈslothfully, adverb

Other Words From

• slothful·ly adverb
• slothful·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of slothful¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; sloth + -ful

Synonym Study

See idle.

Example Sentences

“Where Eve once seemed wild and inspired to Joan,” writes Anolik, “she now seemed slack and slothful. Where Joan once seemed meticulous and masterly to Eve, she now seemed dogged and doctrinaire.”

From Los Angeles Times

We’re told to push them out to fend for themselves financially or risk raising irresponsible adults — slothfully living in their childhood bedroom or the basement — incapable of managing their money.

From Washington Post

Conquest would allow American men to shed the temptations of the “slothful life” and become a “more manful race.”

From New York Times

Carnegie stated that "It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than so spent as to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy."

From Salon

At the same time, others construed even the most slothful forms of idleness as a bold resistance to modernity's greatest ills.

From Salon