sluggard

American  

[sluhg-erd] / ˈslʌg ərd /

noun

1. a person who is habitually inactive or lazy.

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adjective

1. lazy; sluggardly.

sluggard British  

/ ˈslʌɡəd /

noun

1. a person who is habitually indolent

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adjective

1. lazy

Other Word Forms

• sluggardliness
  noun
• sluggardly
  adjective
• sluggardness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of sluggard

First recorded in 1350–1400, sluggard is from the Middle English word slogarde. See slug ¹, -ard

Explanation

Do you know anyone lazy or slothful? Then you know a sluggard: an idle or sluggish person. If you know that sluggish means slow-moving, then you have a clue to the meaning of sluggard. A sluggard is a lazy, sleepy, slow-moving person. A sluggard is likely to oversleep and even snooze through class or work. If you're alert and hard-working, no one will ever call you a sluggard or a slug. Being a sluggard is a great way to fail a class, lose a job, or just fall behind in general.

Example Sentences

With television’s new proximity to the more puritanical uses of our devices, the archetype of the beached sluggard on the couch has been smuggled into a portrait of diligence.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 6, 2016

I've never been a sluggard, and yet I've never felt that I've done one twentieth of what I was capable of doing.

From The Guardian • Jun. 14, 2013

He was something of a sluggard in class, but after school he roamed through the rugged Provencal landscape with a youngster whose nature was as strong and perhaps even deeper than his own�Paul C�zanne.

From Time Magazine Archive

To Dzerzhinsky�in the opinion of virtually all foreign correspondents at Moscow�belongs almost the sole credit for having inculcated a spirit kindred to "efficiency" into sluggard Soviet industry.

From Time Magazine Archive

But they are few, for though I am spiritually a son of the morning, I am physically a sluggard.

From Leaves in the Wind by Gardiner, A. G. (Alfred George)