lazy

English

Etymology

1540, origin uncertain, but probably of Low German origin, from Low German lasich "lazy" from Middle Low German las, lasich "slack, feeble" 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.

Alternate 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈleɪzi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪzi

Adjective

lazy (comparative lazier, superlative laziest)

1. Unwilling to do work or make an effort.

   Get out of bed, you lazy lout!

2. Requiring little or no effort.
3. Relaxed or leisurely.

   I love staying inside and reading on a lazy Sunday.

4. (optometry) Of an eye, squinting because of a weakness of the eye muscles.
5. (cattle branding) Turned so that the letter is horizontal instead of vertical.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "lazy" is often applied: person, man, woman, bastard, morning, day, time, way.

Synonyms

• (unwilling to work): bone-idle, idle, indolent, slothful, work-shy
• See also Wikisaurus:lazy

Derived terms

• laze
• laziness
• lazybones
• lazy evaluation
• lazy eye
• lazy Susan

Translations

unwilling to work

Afrikaans: lui (af) Albanian: përtac (sq), dembel (sq) Arabic: كسلان (ar) (kaslaan) Armenian: ծույլ (hy) (çuyl) Bosnian: lenj (bs) m., lenja (bs) f. Catalan: mandrós (ca), peresós (ca) Cebuano: tapulan Chinese: Mandarin: 懶惰 (cmn), 懒惰 (cmn) (lǎnduò), 懶 (cmn), 懒 (cmn) (lǎn) Crimean Tatar: erinçek, tenbel Croatian: lijen (hr) m., lijena (hr) f. Czech: líný (cs) m. Danish: doven (da) Dutch: lui (nl) Esperanto: pigra (eo), mallaborema (eo) Estonian: laisk (et), logardlik (et) Ewe: kuvia Finnish: laiska (fi) French: paresseux (fr) Georgian: ზარმაცი (ka) German: faul (de) Hindi: आलसी (hi) (ālasī) Hungarian: lusta (hu) Indonesian: malas (id) Italian: pigro (it) Japanese: ナマケモノ (ja) (namakemono), 怠惰な (ja) (たいだな, taida-na), ぐうたら (ja) (guutara)

Kurdish: Sorani: ته‌ممه‌ڵ (ku) (tammaL) Latin: ignavus (la) Marathi: आळशी (āllshī) Meru: muthao Old English: īdelġeorn Persian: تَنبَل (fa) (tænbæl) Pitcairn-Norfolk: hillie Polish: leniwy (pl) Portuguese: preguiçoso (pt) Romanian: leneș (ro) Russian: ленивый (ru) (lenívyj) Sanskrit: अलसः (alasaha) Scottish Gaelic: leisg Serbian: Cyrillic: лењ m. лења f. Roman: lenj m., lenja f. Spanish: perezoso (es), flojo (es), locho (es), haragán (es) Swahili: mlegevu (sw) Swedish: lat (sv), slö (sv) Telugu: సోమరి (te) (sOmari), బద్ధకం (te) (baddhakaM) Thai: เกียจคร้าน (th) (kìadkhráan) Turkish: tembel (tr) Ukrainian: лінивий (uk) (linývyj), ледачий (uk) (ledáčyj) Urdu: آلسی (ur) (ālasī) Vietnamese: lười biếng (vi), lười (vi)

requiring little or no effort

Finnish: helppo (fi)

relaxed or leisurely

Finnish: rauhallinen (fi), unelias (fi)

Swedish: lat (sv), slapp (sv), sömnig (sv)

eye: squinting because of weak muscles

Chinese: Mandarin: 弱視 (cmn), 弱视 (cmn) (ruòshì) Dutch: lui (nl)

Finnish: karsastava (fi) Russian: затуманенное зрение (ru) (zatumanennoe zrenie) n., амблиопи (ru)лінивий Swahili: legevu (sw)

cattle brands: horizontal

Finnish: makaava (fi)