layabout

American  

[ley-uh-bout] / ˈleɪ əˌbaʊt /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a lazy or idle person; loafer.

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layabout British  

/ ˈleɪəˌbaʊt /

noun

1. a lazy person; loafer

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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

Sir Gawain is a bit of a cad when we first meet him, a drunken layabout who’d rather woo than fight.

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2021

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

As portrayed by Kal Penn, he was a layabout by choice, a brilliant doctor-to-be without the baggage of responsibility and social ineptitude.

From Slate • Aug. 11, 2019

"Suppose I do know?" he urged, tightening a little the arm that layabout her.

From The Story of Julia Page by Norris, Kathleen Thompson