sluggard

[sluhg-erd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sluggard ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who is habitually inactive or lazy.

adjective

lazy; sluggardly.

Nearby words

Origin of sluggard

First recorded in 1350–1400, sluggard is from the Middle English word slogarde. See slug¹, -ard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sluggard

These Maruts stir up even the sluggard, even the vagrant, as the gods pleased.
Sacred Books of the East|Various
Do you see that sluggard, wasting this beautiful day in a lazy brouette?
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 119, September, 1867|Various
He sleeps, but it is only in due time and measure, and is not to be confounded with the sluggard's slumbers.
Talks To Farmers|Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I will not, like a sluggard, wear out my youth in idleness at home.
Tales from Shakespeare|Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb

He, being no sluggard, had built a house for himself, to which he at once took his bride.
The Settlers|William H. G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for sluggard

sluggard

noun

a person who is habitually indolent

adjective

lazy

Derived Formssluggardly, adjectivesluggardliness, nounsluggardness, noun

Word Origin for sluggard

C14 slogarde; related to slug 1

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 sluggard

sluggard

late 14c., late 13c. as a surname, "habitually lazy person," from Middle English sluggi "sluggish, indolent," probably from a Scandinavian word; cf. dialectal Norwegian slugga "be sluggish," dialectal Norwegian sluggje "heavy, slow person," dialectal Swedish slogga "to be slow or sluggish." Adjective sluggy is attested in English from early 13c.

'Tis the voice of a sluggard -- I heard him complain:
"You have wak'd me too soon, I must slumber again."
[Isaac Watts, 1674-1748]

'Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare
"You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
["Lewis Carroll" (Charles L. Dodgson), 1832-1898]

As an adjective meaning "sluggish, lazy" from 1590s. Related: Sluggardly.

sluggard

noun

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of sluggard

Examples from the Web for sluggard

sluggard

noun

adjective

Word Origin for sluggard

sluggard