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LAZY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: lazier , laziest
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Disinclined to work or exertion
Example:
the unemployed are not necessarily work-shy
Synonyms:
faineant; indolent; lazy; otiose; slothful; work-shy
Classified under:
Similar:
idle (not in action or at work)
Derivation:
laziness (apathy and inactivity in the practice of virtue (personified as one of the deadly sins))
laziness (inactivity resulting from a dislike of work)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Moving slowly and gently
Example:
at a lazy pace
Classified under:
Similar:
slow (not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time)
Derivation:
laziness (relaxed and easy activity)
Context examples:
“Too damned fat and lazy to stand a four-hour watch.”
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Messner looked at her with lazy indecision.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Certainly; and if he is lazy or negligent, I will write his excuses myself.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
But you men are all so immoderately lazy!
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
To this I was silent out of partiality to my own kind; yet here I could plainly discover the true seeds of spleen, which only seizes on the lazy, the luxurious, and the rich; who, if they were forced to undergo the same regimen, I would undertake for the cure.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Every body is lazy!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
But the girl lived with an old woman who did not want her to marry anyone, for she was so lazy she wished the girl to remain with her and do the cooking and the housework.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Before him was smiling country, streaming with sunshine, lazy with quietude.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
“Then come up,” said the carrier to the lazy horse; who came up accordingly.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Because, with every chance for being good, useful, and happy, you are faulty, lazy, and miserable.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
