lazy
adjective
- not wanting to work or do something
- slow
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ / [ˈleɪ̯zɪi̯] / /ˈlæɪziː/
adj
Etymology: Attested since 1540, origin uncertain. Probably from Low German and Middle Low German lasich (“slack, feeble, lazy”), from las, from Old Saxon lask, from Proto-Germanic *lasiwaz, *laskaz (“feeble, weak”), from Proto-Indo-European *las- (“weak”). Akin to Dutch leuzig (“lazy”), Old Norse lasinn (“limpy, tired, weak”), Old English lesu, lysu (“false, evil, base”). More at lush. An alternative etymology traces lazy to Early Modern English laysy, a derivative of lay (plural lays + -y) in the same way that tipsy is derived from tip. See lay.
- Unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion.
“Get out of bed, you lazy lout!”
“If there bee any lasie fellow, any that cannot away with worke, any that would wallow in pleasures, hee is hastie to be priested. And when hee is made one, and has gotten a benefice, he consorts with his neighbour priests, who are altogether given to pleasures; and then both hee, and they, live, not like Christians, but like epicures; drinking, eating, feasting, and revelling, till the cow come home, as the saying is.”
- Causing or characterised by idleness; relaxed or leisurely.
“I love staying inside and reading on a lazy Sunday.”
- Showing a lack of effort or care.
“lazy writing”
“So it was this beautiful young woman Rokoff had been persecuting. Tarzan wondered in a lazy sort of way whom she might be, and what relations one so lovely could have with the surly, bearded Russian.”
- Sluggish; slow-moving.
“We strolled along beside a lazy stream.”
- Lax:
“a lazy-eared rabbit”
- Lax:
- Turned so that (the letter) is horizontal instead of vertical.
“There was probably more cattle bearing the Lazy S brand marketed than those of any other ranch in the world.”
“The Zuliagas branded a Lazy B. In order to distinguish his cows from theirs for the drive back to Arizona, Mr. Day added a britchen brand across their butts, under their tails.”
- Employing lazy evaluation; not calculating results until they are immediately required.
“a lazy algorithm”
- Wicked; vicious.
“The swilland dropsy enter in The lazy cuke , and swell his skin”
noun
Etymology: Attested since 1540, origin uncertain. Probably from Low German and Middle Low German lasich (“slack, feeble, lazy”), from las, from Old Saxon lask, from Proto-Germanic *lasiwaz, *laskaz (“feeble, weak”), from Proto-Indo-European *las- (“weak”). Akin to Dutch leuzig (“lazy”), Old Norse lasinn (“limpy, tired, weak”), Old English lesu, lysu (“false, evil, base”). More at lush. An alternative etymology traces lazy to Early Modern English laysy, a derivative of lay (plural lays + -y) in the same way that tipsy is derived from tip. See lay.
- A lazy person.
“The “lazies” of the party seized the opportunity of remaining behind—wandering, as they said, though all the cross paths were marked.”
“1898, Jason E. Hammond, “Work and Reward” in Suggestive Programs for Special Day Exercises, Lansing, Michigan: Department of Public Instruction for District Schools, p. , The dudes and noodles, cads and snobs, had better move away, This busy land can’t spare the room for lazies, such as they, To foreign climate let them go and there forever stay. Ours is a land for busy workers.”
- Sloth (animal).
“To strenuous minds there is an inquietude in overquietness, and no laboriousness in labour; and to tread a mile after the slow pace of a snail, or the heavy measures of the lazy of Brazilia, were a most tiring pennance, and worse than a race of some furlongs at the Olympicks.”
verb
Etymology: Attested since 1540, origin uncertain. Probably from Low German and Middle Low German lasich (“slack, feeble, lazy”), from las, from Old Saxon lask, from Proto-Germanic *lasiwaz, *laskaz (“feeble, weak”), from Proto-Indo-European *las- (“weak”). Akin to Dutch leuzig (“lazy”), Old Norse lasinn (“limpy, tired, weak”), Old English lesu, lysu (“false, evil, base”). More at lush. An alternative etymology traces lazy to Early Modern English laysy, a derivative of lay (plural lays + -y) in the same way that tipsy is derived from tip. See lay.
- To laze, act in a lazy manner.
““Go to sea,” muttered Mr. Unity Peach. “Work for your living—don’t lazy away your time here!””
“You’d see a muddy sow and a litter of pigs come lazying along the street and whollop herself right down in the way, where folks had to walk around her […]”