Lazy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈleɪzi/
• Rhymes: -eɪzi

Origin

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

Full definition of lazy

Adjective

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.We strolled along beside a lazy stream.
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.
6. (comptheory) Employing lazy evaluation; not calculating results until they are immediately required.a lazy algorithm
7. (UK, obsolete or dialect) wicked; vicious

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

Derived terms

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