lazy
/ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ adjective, verb, noun
Forms lazier laziest lazies lazying lazied
- adjective Unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion. “Get out of bed, you lazy lout!”
- adjective Causing or characterised by idleness; relaxed or leisurely. “I love staying inside and reading on a lazy Sunday.”
- adjective Showing a lack of effort or care. “lazy writing”
- adjective Sluggish; slow-moving. “We strolled along beside a lazy stream.”
- adjective Droopy. “a lazy-eared rabbit”
- adjective (optometry) Of an eye, squinting because of a weakness of the eye muscles.
- adjective (of a cattle brand) Turned so that (the letter) is horizontal instead of vertical.
- adjective (computing theory) Employing lazy evaluation; not calculating results until they are immediately required. “a lazy algorithm”
- verb (informal) To laze, act in a lazy manner.
- noun A lazy person.
- noun (obsolete) Sloth (animal).
Synonyms
bone-idle idle indolent slothful work-shy fainéant inert lackadaisical lither otiose sluggish swear torpid
Antonyms
Etymology
Attested since 1540, origin uncertain. Probably from Low German and Middle Low German lasich (“slack, feeble, lazy”), from las, from Old Saxon lask, from Proto-Germanic *lasiwaz, *laskaz (“feeble, weak”), from Proto-Indo-European *las- (“weak”).
Akin to Dutch leuzig (“lazy”), German lässig (“casual, nonchalant, laid-back, easy-going”), Old Norse lasinn (“limpy, tired, weak”), Old English lesu, lysu (“false, evil, base”). More at lush.
An alternative etymology traces lazy to Early Modern English laysy, a derivative of lay (plural lays + -y) in the same way that tipsy is derived from tip. See lay.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Disinclined to action or exertion; averse to labor; idle; shirking work. Bacon.
- adjective Inactive; slothful; slow; sluggish; as, a lazy stream. "The night owl's lazy flight." Shak.
Etymology [OE. lasie, laesic, of uncertain origin; cf. F. las tired, L. lassus, akin to E. late; or cf. LG. losig, lesig.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lazy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details