lazy
Americanadjective
-
lazier,
comparative
-
laziest
superlative
-
tending to avoid work, activity, or exertion.
She was too lazy to take out the trash, so it just continued to pile up.
- Synonyms:
- slothful
- Antonyms:
- industrious
-
causing or characterized by idleness or inactivity.
It was a hot, lazy afternoon.
I’m having a lazy day today, just lounging and watching movies.
-
slow-moving; sluggish.
a lazy stream.
- Antonyms:
- quick
-
Computers. of or relating to an operator or quantifier in a search query that will return the smallest match result possible.
-
(of a livestock brand) placed on its side instead of upright.
verb (used without object)
adjective
-
not inclined to work or exertion
-
conducive to or causing indolence
-
moving in a languid or sluggish manner
a lazy river
-
(of a brand letter or mark on livestock) shown as lying on its side
Synonym Usage
See idle.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of lazy
First recorded in 1540–50; compare Low German lasich “languid, idle”
Explanation
While lazy actually means being averse to work or avoiding it, it can also be used to describe something slow-moving or unenergetic, like when you stroll down the garden path with a lazy gait, not in a hurry to get anywhere. The adjective lazy is thought to come from the Low German lasich, meaning "idle or languid." You were offended at being called lazy, but you just didn't have the energy to defend yourself. After all, who doesn't enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon? Former President of Poland Lech Walesa once considered the benefits of being lazy when he said, “It's the lazy people who invented the wheel and the bicycle because they didn't like walking or carrying things."
Vocabulary lists containing lazy
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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.
See Examples For:
"Women, since the beginning of time, have birthed and looked after children and I just couldn't be bothered. I thought I was lazy."
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Some hiring managers in China told me the attitude of young job seekers is at fault, describing them as lazy, picky and weak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
For lazy reporters, or those who’ve never covered another president, Trump makes the job easy.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
It will also feature a lazy river that floats past scenery inspired by Mattel Games, including UNO, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and Magic 8 Ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
They trailed lazy hands in the water as they moved slowly, aimlessly, down the river and out of sight.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
What concerns him isn’t the tool itself so much as what it could let a lazier version of himself get away with.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Use her ajvar recipe without adjustment, or opt for my lazier route, and stash containers of lutenitsa in the freezer.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
Do our heroes become lazier as our realities become harder?
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2022
A lazier tale may have resolved this by having Stark Industries dump an angel loan upon the family from nowhere.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2021
“I can’t tell who is lazier, Polly or you,” Mother mut-tered as she stalked out of the room.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
“Everybody’s used to seeing grizzlies on TV catching salmon out of the air at the top of some waterfall, but black bears are one of the laziest animals on the planet,” he explains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2025
While charging a $1 annual fee may discourage the laziest bot-makers, it surely won’t prevent anyone with a real incentive—financial, political, or otherwise—to manipulate the platform for their own personal gain.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2023
If he loses, they say he overthinks, the laziest word ever to be used about Guardiola's work.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2023
And Cahill’s attempt to characterize Audrey’s neuroses — her watching puppy videos on her phone for hours on end — might be the laziest effort at capturing millennial malaise.
From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2022
Whenever Dad started to do a new motion study project at a factory, he’d always begin by announcing he wanted to photograph the motions of the laziest man on the job.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
The New York Stock Exchange tape lazied along: about 120,000 shares an hour, 610,000 shares for the full session.
From Time Magazine Archive
So he lazied with geishas, saki, talk and chess.
From Time Magazine Archive
The two went down the road together, the Paymaster a little wearied with his years and weight or lazied by his own drams, leaning in the least degree upon the shoulder of the boy.
From Gilian The Dreamer His Fancy, His Love and Adventure by Neil Munro
I was in the merriest humour, and lazied about the whole afternoon through the most frequented streets and looked at the people.
From Hunger by Knut Hamsun
I never lazied around so or frittered up so much time in my life; and I'm enjoying every second of my freedom, too.
From The Early Bird A Business Man's Love Story by Arthur William Brown
Hot summer weekends he is apt to be lazying beside Marian Anderson's Connecticut swimming pool.
From Time Magazine Archive
"And see what I've made thee while thou'st been lazying in bed—a real English ship of war."
From Harding's luck by H. R. (Harold Robert) Millar
"A nice big dog lazying round here would sort of complete it."
From O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1921 by Edison Marshall
But he soon sank away to sleep, from which he did not awaken until the half angry voice of Mrs. Sharp chided him loudly for "lazying it away" in bed until after sunrise.
From Lizzy Glenn or, The Trials of a Seamstress by T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur
That same afternoon we were lazying around in a boat among the water-lilies at the edge of the bay.
From The Voice of the City: Further Stories of the Four Million by O. Henry
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