loafer

[loh-fer]

See more synonyms for loafer on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who loafs; lazy person; idler.

Origin of loafer

1820–30, Americanism; perhaps short for *landloafer vagabond; compare German (obsolete) Landläufer, Dutch landloper; see landloper

Related formsloaf·er·ish, adjective

Loafer

[loh-fer]

Trademark.

a brand name for a moccasinlike slip-on shoe.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for loafer

waster, wanderer, malingerer, slouch, lazybones, good-for-nothing, wastrel, idler, deadbeat, do-nothing, slacker, sluggard, shirker, beachcomber, lounger, goof-off, sponger

Examples from the Web for loafer

Historical Examples of loafer

A good worker like him, not a loafer or a drunkard, he could have understood in that case.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola
Only one man may be scouted by any one, and that is the loafer.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)
William Delisle Hay
And, as for their calling you a loafer—well, that's your own fault, too.
The Rise of Roscoe Paine
Joseph C. Lincoln
The loafer came in with a grin of good-nature on his perspiring and dirty face.
The Twins of Suffering Creek
Ridgwell Cullum
What did she think he was—a fool, a loafer, a uniformed nonentity?
The Game of Rat and Dragon
Cordwainer Smith

British Dictionary definitions for loafer

loafer

noun

a person who avoids work; idler
a moccasin-like shoe for casual wear

Word Origin for loafer

C19: perhaps from German Landläufer vagabond

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for loafer

"idler, person who loafs," 1830, of uncertain origin (see loaf (v.)). As a type of shoe, 1937. Related: Loafers.