Dictionary

sluggard en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English slogarde, probably ultimately of Old Norse origin. Equivalent to slug + -ard (“pejorative agent suffix”).

Meanings

1. A person who is lazy, stupid, or idle by habit.
   • He tooke his rouſe with ſtopes of Rhenniſh wine / So kindly yeſternight to Bruno's health, / That all this day the ſluggard kéepes his bed. 1589–1592 (date written), Ch[ristopher] Mar[lowe], The Tragicall Historie of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. […], London: […] Iohn Wright, […], published 1616 (1631 reprint), →OCLC, signature E2, verso:
2. A person slow to begin necessary work, a slothful person.
   • But while these sluggards slept on, on dry land, snoring peacefully beside their owners, the oldest boat was up at the crack as old folk often are, and was therefore the first craft to move across the unfrozen lake. 1981, Salman Rushdie, chapter 1, in Midnight's Children:
3. A fearful or cowardly person, a poltroon.

Forms

Deriveds

sluggardize · sluggardise · sluggardly · sluggardness

Relateds

slug · sluggish · lug

Translations (48)

nl luiaard (lazy or idle person) · gl nugallán (lazy or idle person) · cmn 懶骨頭 /懒骨头 (lazy or idle person) · mi pirorehe (lazy or idle person) · pdt Schlosäwendoot (lazy or idle person) · mk мр́зливец (lazy or idle person) · fr flemmarde (lazy or idle person) · it poltrone (lazy or idle person) · ga scraiste (lazy or idle person) · fi etana (lazy or idle person) · is letingi (lazy or idle person) · fi laiskuri (lazy or idle person) · tr tembel (lazy or idle person) · cmn 懶漢 /懒汉 (lazy or idle person) · ee kuviatɔ (lazy or idle person) · fr fainéante (lazy or idle person) · pt molenga (lazy or idle person) · pl leń (lazy or idle person) · mi inukorokoro (lazy or idle person) · el τεμπέλης (lazy or idle person) · fr flemmard (lazy or idle person) · pt moleirão (lazy or idle person) · fi velttoilija (lazy or idle person) · de Nichtstuer (lazy or idle person) · ru безде́льник (lazy or idle person) · fa لتنبر (lazy or idle person) · bg ленивец (lazy or idle person) · mk мр́зливка (lazy or idle person) · it pigro (lazy or idle person) · te సోమరి (lazy or idle person) · es remolón (lazy or idle person) · is iðjuleysingi (lazy or idle person) · it lavativo (lazy or idle person) · is letiblóð (lazy or idle person) · tr miskin (lazy or idle person) · cmn 懶人 /懒人 (lazy or idle person) · cs lenoch (lazy or idle person) · af luiaard (lazy or idle person) · fr fainéant (lazy or idle person) · ta சோம்பேறி (lazy or idle person) · it inattivo (lazy or idle person) · it tardo (lazy or idle person) · gl preguiceiro (lazy or idle person) · gl lacazán (lazy or idle person) · it indolente (lazy or idle person) · de Faulpelz (lazy or idle person) · fi laiskimus (lazy or idle person) · it flemmatico (lazy or idle person)