layabout

American  

[ley-uh-bout] / ˈleɪ əˌbaʊt /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a lazy or idle person; loafer.

---

layabout British  

/ ˈleɪəˌbaʊt /

noun

1. a lazy person; loafer

---

verb

1. old-fashioned (preposition, usually intr or reflexive) to hit out with violent and repeated blows in all directions

Etymology

Origin of layabout

1930–35; noun use of verb phrase lay about, nonstandard variant of lie about

Example Sentences

Katie sees Rachel as little more than a useless layabout waiting to claim the apartment, even though Rachel had been the live-in caregiver before things turned.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2024

This is a grim continuum on which to exist, skating between the poles of high-achieving hustler and dissolute layabout.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2024

Roman is a layabout who wastes what may be natural intelligence, and seems not to know what his actual job is, much less how to handle the basic functions of it.

From Salon • Oct. 15, 2019

In Uprising, Mako’s death lights the fire in layabout Jake to finally take his Jaeger Initiative responsibilities seriously.

From Slate • Mar. 23, 2018

The supervisor is sitting extremely comfortably with his legs crossed and his arm hanging over the backrest here like some layabout.

From The Trial by Wyllie, David