lazy
Syllables: la·zyUK/ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/ˈlæɪziː/
lazy adjective: unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion.
Adjective
lazy (comparative lazier, superlative laziest)
- 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...1610, Alexander Cooke, Pope Joane, in William Oldys, editor, The Harleian Miscellany: or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and Entertaining Pamphlets and Tracts, as well in Manuscript as in Print...
- 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.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 17
- Sluggish; slow-moving.
- We strolled along beside a lazy stream.
- Droopy.
- a lazy-eared rabbit
- Of an eye, squinting because of a weakness of the eye muscles.
- 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.2010, The Trail Drivers of Texas
- 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.2002, American Cowboy, volume 9, number 3, page 60
- 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 skin1641, Ben Jonson, The Sad Shepherd
- The swilland dropsy enter in
Verb
lazy (third-person singular simple present lazies, present participle lazying, simple past and past participle lazied)
- 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!”1842, George Cruikshank, Omnibus, London: Tilt & Bogue, page 79
- 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 […]1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Chapter 21”, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC
Noun
lazy (plural lazies)
- 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.1874, David Livingstone, chapter 7, in The Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa, from 1865 to his death, volume I, London: John Murray, page 159
- 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.1898, Jason E. Hammond, “Work and Reward” in Suggestive Programs for Special Day Exercises, Lansing, Michigan: Department of Public Instruction for District Schools, p.
- 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.1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals, 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, pages 49–50
lazy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
lazy in Hindi
- unwilling to work
- आलसी ālsī, सुस्त sust
lazy in Tamil
- unwilling to work
- சோம்பல் cōmpal
lazy in Marathi
- unwilling to work
- आळशी āḷśī
lazy in Urdu
- unwilling to work
- آلسی ālsī
More languagesFewer languages
- lazy in Bengali
- অলস oloś, চিঙ্গা ciṅga
- lazy in Telugu
- సోమరి sōmari, బద్ధకం baddhakaṁ
- lazy in Malayalam
- അദ്ധ്വാനിക്കാൻ മനസ്സില്ലാത്ത, അലസനായ, മന്ദഗതിയായ
- lazy in Kannada
- ಸೋಮಾರಿ
- lazy in Punjabi
- ڈھلا ḍhillā
- lazy in Gujarati
- આળસુ āḷsu, કાયર kāyar, અફીણી aphīṇī
- lazy in Odia
- ଅଲସ, ଅଳସୁଆ
- lazy in Sanskrit
- अलस alasa
- lazy in Assamese
- এলেহুৱা elehua, লেধা ledha
- lazy in Nepali
- अल्छी alchī, अल्सि alsi, अल्छि alchi, ढिलो ḍhilo
- lazy in Tagalog
- tamad, batugan, patay-patay
- lazy in Arabic
- كَسْلَان kaslān
- lazy in Malay
- malas
- lazy in Indonesian
- malas
- lazy in Persian
- تَنبَل tanbal, لس las
- lazy in Thai
- เกียจคร้าน gìiat-kráan, ขี้เกียจ kîi-gìiat
- lazy in Vietnamese
- lười biếng, lười
Examples of lazy in a sentence
- After the long, lazy winter I was afraid to get on the scale.
- I was sitting on the sofa for a long time, feeling too lazy to move.
- That guy's a slow and lazy player, but he's got excellent finishing.
Synonyms of lazy
Antonyms
Forms of lazy
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | lazier |
| superlative | laziest |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | lazies |
| present participle | lazying |
| past participle | lazied |
| past | lazied |
| Noun | |
| plural | lazies |
Origin of lazy
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”), German lässig (“casual, nonchalant, laid-back, easy-going”), 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.
Words formed from lazy
- laze
- lazily
- laziness
- lazy 8
- lazy-arse
- lazy as Ludlam's dog
- lazy ass
- lazy-ass
- lazyback
- lazy battery effect
- lazy-bed
- lazy bed
- lazy bones
- lazybones
- lazyboots
- lazyboy
- lazybutt
- lazy daisy
- lazy dog
- lazy dog bomb
- lazy eight
- lazy evaluation
- lazy eye
- lazy girl job
- lazy initialisation
- lazy initialization
- lazyish
- lazyitis
- lazy jack
- lazy jacks
- lazy Kate
- lazy Laurence
- lazy Lawrence
- lazyload
- lazy load
- lazy lobster
- lazy louse
- lazy man's load
- lazy painter
- lazy pierogi
- lazy pinion
- lazy river
- lazy S
- lazy susan
- lazy susans
- lazy tongs
- lazyweb
- nonlazy
- the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
- unlazy
Phrases with lazy
- lazy 8s
- lazy beds
- lazy dogs
- lazy eyes
- lazy asses
- lazy Kates
- lazy eights
- lazy louses
- lazy rivers
- lazy daisies
- lazy pinions
- lazy painters
9 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with lazy
Questions about lazy
- What does lazy mean?
- Lazy means unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion.
- What is lazy in Hindi?
- Lazy in Hindi is आलसी (ālsī), सुस्त (sust). See Lazy meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is lazy?
- Lazy can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce lazy?
- Lazy is pronounced /ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ (UK).
Words near lazy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lazy (page history and authors); lazy (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lazy (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ڈھلا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); અફીણી (Gujarati) (page history and authors); lazy (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); अल्छि (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-lazy.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lazy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lazy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.