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laid-back

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: laidback and laid back

English

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Etymology

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From U.S. slang (circa 1950s).

Presumably originally a metaphor — literally, "sitting in a tilted-back chair", a relaxed posture.

Adjective

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laid-back (comparative more laid-back, superlative most laid-back)

  1. Relaxed and easy-going; demonstrating an absence of stress or worry.
    Synonyms: easygoing, unconcerned; see also Thesaurus:carefree, Thesaurus:calm
    • 2010, Mary Roach, “You Go First: The Alarming Prospect of Life Without Gravity”, in Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 90:
      The V-2's directional system was notoriously erratic. In May 1947, a V-2 launched from White Sands Proving Ground headed south instead of north, missing downtown Juarez, Mexico, by 3 miles. The Mexican government's response to the American bombing was admirably laid back. General Enrique Diaz Gonzales and Consul General Raul Michel met with United States officials, who issued apologies and an invitation to come to "the next rocket shoot" at White Sands. []
    • 2019, Susan Levenstein, Dottoressa: An American Doctor in Rome, page 6:
      You have to accept the deliberate unspeed of Italian timetables if you want the right to be liberated by their correspondingly laid-back lifestyle.

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