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
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for April 10–April 16, 2021
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Glossary of Corruption
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
Overhead, a sunset dragged itself between mountaintops with such lazy beauty, I had to pull over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 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
Even the brief imitation of Lennon’s “losing control” scream is laser-precise, meant to boost the song’s momentum and carry it through a cheery and lazy surf solo.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
But when the government’s arguments are this lazy, it is functionally impossible for Saylor to not at least implicitly acknowledge just how bad the idea is.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
I went through a lazy hair period sophomore year.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
We label those who outsource their work to AI as lazier and less moral, and we think they value their work less than those who don’t.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
A 2025 Duke University study found that professionals believed that colleagues would consider them lazier and less competent if they used A.I., making them unlikely to disclose its use.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2025
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
A lazier filmmaker might merely have put them back together to play their greatest hits.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
The sound of the waves was even lazier, more drawn out than at noon.
From "The Stranger" by Albert Camus
But for now through early October, with little rain and seasonal dams controlling the water’s flow, this might be California’s laziest river.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
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
Adding co-op is like finishing any dish with chili oil — it’s the laziest way to make the most unimaginatively cooked proteins pretty tasty.
From The Verge ● Aug. 24, 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
So he lazied with geishas, saki, talk and chess.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
We lazied the rest of the pleasant afternoon away, some dozing under the trees, some smoking cob-pipes and talking sweethearts and war, some playing games.
From The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories by Mark Twain
Then when we had got pretty well stuffed, we laid off and lazied.
From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Tom Sawyer's Comrade by Mark Twain
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
Hot summer weekends he is apt to be lazying beside Marian Anderson's Connecticut swimming pool.
From Time Magazine Archive
An ambulance driver came lazying around the corner and began to start his car.
From The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me by William Allen White
Billy came back and lay beside her, lazying in the sea-cool sunshine, and together they watched the sun sink into the horizon where the ocean was deepest peacock-blue.
From The Valley of the Moon by Jack London
His head felt heavy and kind of funny, but he didn't think that lazying around on the pier would be harmful.
From A Son of the City A Story of Boy Life by Herman Gastrell Seely
"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
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
