Showing results for "slacker"

• comparative of slack.

slacker

American  

[slak-er] / ˈslæk ər /

noun

slackers plural

1. a person who evades their duty or work; shirker.

   Synonyms:

   laggard, dodger, malingerer

2. an especially educated young person who is antimaterialistic, purposeless, apathetic, and usually works in a dead-end job.

3. a person who evades military service.

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slacker British  

/ ˈslækə /

noun

1. a person who evades work or duty; shirker

2. informal

   1. an educated young adult characterized by cynicism and apathy

   2. ( as modifier )

      slacker culture

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• slackers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of slacker

First recorded in 1790–1800; slack ¹ ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. ); slacker def. 2 popularized by the film Slackers (1991)

Explanation

A slacker is someone who can't be relied on to do a job or finish a project. If you're looking for the slacker in your family, you'll probably find him on the couch. Nobody wants a slacker on their soccer team. Slackers avoid effort of any kind, putting work off or getting someone else to do it for them. While slacker is commonly thought of as a word from the 1990s — there was even a movie called Slackers made in 1991 — it's actually been around since at least the late 1800s. In the early 20th century, Sudanese workers protested their lack of voice and power by slacking, or working very slowly.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slacker slackers

It should be noted that Paul Cummins is no slacker himself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2026

That realisation manifests in the lovestruck slacker rock of Dragonfly, and the finger-plucked Neptune Baby, with its refrain, "I'm a boat, and you are the water".

From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025

At worst, he was a slacker who didn’t like to write tickets and dodged radio calls.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2024

Ripley, a slacker and a con man grinding out a living in postwar New York, is sent to Italy to try to persuade a trust-funded idler to come home and take over the family business.

From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2024

He believed that if he didn't return to Germany, he would be considered "unpatriotic" and a "slacker."

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

From their ranks, we’ve chosen the 101 L.A.-set movies that best represent this city and its inhabitants: actors, scamps, cops, crooks, singers, strivers, slackers and even cyborgs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 15, 2026

These are the people cranking up productivity, impressing managers and making the rest of us look like slackers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025

While the letter doesn't call out any groups by name, the message is clearly intended to put slackers on high alert.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024

Following a cast of slackers and crackpots in suburban Florida, the video game-like musical comedy marries gummy 3-D graphics and stoned-guy humor with sly commentary on hustle culture and the gig economy.

From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2024

He bounced a couple of slackers who confused freedom with no rules, so the rest of us don’t make waves.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson