sloth
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.
a pack or group of bears.
Origin of sloth
1Other words for sloth
1 | idleness, shiftlessness, slackness |
Words Nearby sloth
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sloth in a sentence
Immense ground sloths shambled on land and even swam offshore.
Why South America’s ancient mammals may have lost out to northern counterparts | Jake Buehler | November 4, 2020 | Science NewsOn 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.
The longest trail of fossilized human footprints hints at a risky Ice Age trek | Aayushi Pratap | October 26, 2020 | Science NewsWhile 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.
The longest trail of fossilized human footprints hints at a risky Ice Age trek | Aayushi Pratap | October 26, 2020 | Science NewsA little digging revealed fossilized human footprints as well as those from a mammoth and ground sloth.
The longest trail of fossilized human footprints hints at a risky Ice Age trek | Aayushi Pratap | October 26, 2020 | Science NewsMammoths and a giant ground sloth crossed the tracks in the travelers’ wake, trampling some of the footprints.
A typical teenager’s stroll: Carrying a baby and dodging mammoths | Kiona N. Smith | October 23, 2020 | Ars Technica
Hard-wired into the psyche of many is the idea that somehow time off is akin to sloth.
Obama’s Extravagant Summer Break? More Like, America’s Vacation-Deficit Disorder | Clive Irving | August 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis disease was thought to stem from bad climate, and sloth.
When TB Was a Death Sentence: An Excerpt From ‘The Remedy’ | Thomas Goetz | April 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHere are the Russians, they will punish us for our sloth and hubris, but if we make Johnny read better!
Sunday Q&A: Josef Joffe on the Myth of American Decline | Michael Moynihan | November 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThanksgiving is about sloth and gluttony, as well as a dash of envy and greed.
Eat Turkey All You Want! It’s Not Going to Put You to Sleep | Kent Sepkowitz | November 22, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe conservative narrative would be built around some idea of liberal licentiousness or sloth or some such.
Quasi-Random Responses to Comments from the Previous Thread | Michael Tomasky | August 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThis is one of the truths which sloth, rapacity and extravagance are slow to learn, yet which they cannot safely ignore.
Glances at Europe | Horace Greeleysloth in women is cured either by vanity or love; though, in vivacious women, it is an omen of love.
The 'Characters' of Jean de La Bruyre | Jean de La BruyreBut for the rest of her days she lay luxuriously folded on herself and sunk in sloth and pleasure.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis StevensonSome creatures excel in cunning, some in reason, some in activity, some in sloth—all have certain proclivities.
Ancient Faiths And Modern | Thomas InmanI no longer habitually cherish physical sloth and luxury, which excite to excessive sensuality.
My Religion | Leo Tolstoy
British Dictionary definitions for sloth
/ (sləʊθ) /
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
reluctance to work or exert oneself
Origin of sloth
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse