laziness
Americannoun
-
having or showing an unwillingness to work.
Many people start the course with a bang, but trail off after a while because of laziness, insufficient curiosity, or lack of motivation.
-
the fact or quality of encouraging idleness.
We relaxed in the laziness of the warm afternoon, watching as the sun began to set.
-
the fact or quality of being slow-moving or sluggish.
It was only three miles downstream, but the laziness of the river stretched the raft ride to two hours.
Etymology
Origin of laziness
Explanation
The characteristic of being idle or relaxed can be called laziness. Your laziness might keep you from taking your puppy for the long walk she needs, instead just letting her out in the yard. There's the kind of laziness when you lie in a hammock for an hour watching the clouds, and then there's the kind when you don't get any work done all week. You might experience laziness on vacation, sleeping later than usual and lounging on the beach with a book. Sometimes laziness is the result, though, of an unwillingness to work or help someone out: "His laziness meant that I had to set the tent up all by myself!"
Vocabulary lists containing laziness
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ness
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The Suffix -ness, Part 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's not laziness, it's the executive dysfunction that makes it difficult... People have trouble focusing their attention and keeping it sustained long enough to complete these tasks," she said.
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026
The bot boom in academia writ large puts on display the insecurity of students just as much as it does their laziness.
From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026
It’s easy to conflate this with laziness or thoughtlessness.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 30, 2026
This delightful compilation suggests that even those in the world of architecture have been leaning on Vitruvius for knowledge about the Roman architectural world through some combination of ignorance and laziness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025
This forbearance on his part on hot, cloudless days, if that is what it was and not simple laziness, was not good enough.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
