as in slug
a lazy person
tried to wake up the sluggards who were still sleeping at that late hour
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in slothful
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sluggard
Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 July 2019
Clearly, supervision at your job is lax, and your sluggard classmate is taking advantage of that.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2017
Slug was – is – a variant on sluggard, which was actually used as a surname for some time, apparently.
—Ruth Walker, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2017
French workers, whom the British like to dismiss as holiday-hogging sluggards, are more productive than the British.
—The Economist, 31 Aug. 2017
Moneyshow, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2021
Noun
Scar then proceeds to desolate the kingdom, with the help of hyenas, while Simba, in exile, grows up to become a pleasure-hunting, grub-eating sluggard.
—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 July 2019
Clearly, supervision at your job is lax, and your sluggard classmate is taking advantage of that.
—Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2017
Slug was – is – a variant on sluggard, which was actually used as a surname for some time, apparently.
—Ruth Walker, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 Sep. 2017
French workers, whom the British like to dismiss as holiday-hogging sluggards, are more productive than the British.
—The Economist, 31 Aug. 2017
Adjective
The stock really has not done much of anything in the last five years, the stock following a similar sluggard pattern of the company’s revenue line.
—Moneyshow, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sluggard
Noun
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The second dog, a large mixed breed, was critically wounded by a stray slug and died before it could be brought to an Animal Care Centers of NYC facility for treatment, officials said.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2026
-
In 1975, Caldwell, who had kept the slug, donated it to the museum and sat down with museum officials and told his story.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That they would be regarded as slothful morons who aren't worth the price of a ticket of admission.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
2 Feb. 2026
-
Soviet Russia, too, experienced periodic panics about slothful bureaucrats impeding the dictatorship of the proletariat.—
Charlie Tyson,
The New Yorker,
15 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
There are 20 arrondissements within Paris, which spiral out like a snail’s shell with one in the center and 20 at the edge.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Ripa asked at the time, inquiring about the awkward positioning of snails in the act.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Black, white, colorful, graphic—the perfect baggy tee will hold your hand through low-key days at the office, weekends in the park, and your laziest bed-rot days.—
Kelsey Stiegman,
Glamour,
27 Mar. 2026
-
The point is to get away from lazy (but practical) System 1 thinking and apply your brain’s full power to seeing through any fraud or deception.—
Neil J. Rubenking,
PC Magazine,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Uforce is developing several defense technologies, including counter-uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), maritime and strike drones and battlefield software.—
Kai Nicol-Schwarz,
CNBC,
31 Mar. 2026
-
One of the reasons American troops would be vulnerable on Kharg Island is its close proximity to the Iranian mainland, from which missiles, drones and artillery could be fired.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Every 4:3 shot is framed to maximize the social verticality of the club, and every sequence is edited to evoke the indolent energy of a hot car on a hot summer’s day.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
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There are two types: Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which can be aggressive or indolent, according to the Cleveland Clinic.—
Escher Walcott,
PEOPLE,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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His discoveries promise to upset the gaming tables of every school of thought that wagers on new and untested art for idlers’ rewards: the love of novelty, the will to make or unmake reputations, the wish to be hip or au courant.—
Mark Greif,
Harper's Magazine,
26 July 2024
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Their name exudes the essence of an idler and slacker, but women’s loafers themselves are quite the opposite.—
Gaby Keiderling,
Harper's BAZAAR,
19 Jan. 2023
Adjective
-
Why didn’t Tania just get one of her fellow Council wokesters to hire her shiftless, entitled kin?—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
28 Sep. 2025
-
The film, like How to Train Your Dragon, is about a shiftless youngster (Lilo, a Hawaiian girl who has been acting out since the death of her parents) bonding with a fantasy creature (Stitch, a blue alien experiment designed as a weapon of destruction).—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sluggard.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sluggard. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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