shiftless
lacking in resourcefulness; inefficient; lazy.
lacking in incentive, ambition, or aspiration.
Origin of shiftless
1Other words for shiftless
Other words from shiftless
- shift·less·ly, adverb
- shift·less·ness, noun
Words Nearby shiftless
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use shiftless in a sentence
A self-review of “shiftless When Idle”: title—good; song—kinda.
The Return of the Replacements: Here Comes a Regular | Elizabeth Wurtzel | September 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThird, he wants to turn America into a Euro-paradise for the shiftless and unmotivated.
Michael Tomasky on Mitt Romney’s Outside Pitch | Michael Tomasky | January 11, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe other side can't stand the idea of taking wealth from hard-working Us to shiftless and lazy Them.
There was hardly to be found in all Southern Tennessee a more contented, shiftless, ill-bestead family than theirs.
Ramona | Helen Hunt JacksonVerena was a poor old widow, doddering and shiftless: Charity suspected that she came for her keep.
Summer | Edith Wharton
All went well till lazy and shiftless immigrants arrived to enjoy the paradise also.
The Complete Club Book for Women | Caroline French BentonYet he did not retreat from his moral and intellectual standards, or lose the respect of that shiftless community.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineThose who did so were usually the land speculators and people of weak, irresolute, or shiftless character.
The Old Northwest | Frederic Austin Ogg
British Dictionary definitions for shiftless
/ (ˈʃɪftlɪs) /
lacking in ambition or initiative
Derived forms of shiftless
- shiftlessly, adverb
- shiftlessness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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