laziness

American  

[ley-zee-nis] / ˈleɪ zi nɪs /

noun

1. 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.

2. the fact or quality of encouraging idleness.

   We relaxed in the laziness of the warm afternoon, watching as the sun began to set.

3. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of laziness

lazy ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

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!"

Example Sentences

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

Is it laziness, illiteracy or the ultimate flex?

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

It’s easy to conflate this with laziness or thoughtlessness.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 30, 2026

But Izumi also has raised the alarm that pervasive AI use could counteract the benefits of homework by enabling cut-and-paste laziness.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 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

Related Words

• apathy
• inertia
• lethargy
• negligence
• sloth
• weariness