slacker

Noun

slacker (plural slackers)

1. One who procrastinates or is lazy; one who does not do their fair share or pull their own weight.
   • Some evil fellows said behind his back that Beowulf was white-livered and a slacker.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 39

   Synonyms:

   idler

2. A person lacking a sense of direction in life; an underachiever.
   • You're a slacker, McFly. You've got aptitude, but you don't apply yourself. You remind me of your father: He was a slacker, too.1985, Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, Back to the Future, spoken by Mr. Strickland
   • “I don’t think this is a generation of slackers,” said Carl Van Horn, a labor economist at Rutgers. “This image of the kid who goes off and skis in Colorado, I don’t think that’s the correct image. Today’s young people are very focused on trying to work hard and to get ahead.”2011 May 28, Catherine Rampell, quoting Carl Van Horn, “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
3. A member of a certain 1990s subculture associated with Generation X.
   • Kevin Smith wrote and directed the slacker hits “Clerks,” “Dogma” and “Chasing Amy,” but lately it is his other life—maintaining six Web sites that he describes as “devoted to my fans and my films”—that seems to consume him.2005 December 18, Craig Modderno, “Slacker Dot-Com”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   • Gen Xers were said to be lazy—“slackers” in the parlance of the time—who didn’t exhibit the straightforward work ethic of their predecessors.2010, Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus, page 121
4. (US, dated) A person who seeks to avoid military service.
   • [S]everal hundred prisoners captured in North Jersey slacker raids last week and sent to this camp are being Inducted into military service today[…]1918 September 10, “Take Slackers into Army”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   • Senator Burton K. Wheeler opened his fight in the Senate today[…], raising the cry of "slackers" against deferred workers in Government establishments and industry.1943 September 29, C. P. Trussell, “Wheeler Assails Bureau ‘Slackers’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
5. (rare, slang) A user of the Slackware Linux distribution.
   • I'm a slacker from way back btw1996 August 15, stephen benson, “Re: How broken is Infomagic's Redhat linux?”, in comp.os.linux.setup (Usenet)
   • Hope you become a happy slacker.2002 January 15, Josh, “Re: slackware installation issue”, in comp.os.linux (Usenet)