# lazy

Pronunciation: say "LAY-zee" /ˈleɪzi/

## Adjective

1. Not wanting to work or make an effort; avoiding anything that takes exertion.
   - Simple: Not wanting to work or make an effort.
   - _Her lazy coworker left all the hard tasks for the rest of the team._
   - _He felt too lazy to cook, so he ordered takeout instead._
2. Showing a lack of effort or care in the way something is done.
   - Simple: Done without much effort or care.
   - _The report was full of lazy mistakes that careful editing would have caught._
   - _Critics dismissed the film as lazy storytelling with no original ideas._
3. Marked by idleness or relaxation; calm, unhurried, and leisurely.
   - Simple: Slow, relaxed, and free from work or hurry.
   - _Summer brought long, lazy days beside the lake._
   - _They enjoyed a lazy brunch that stretched well into the afternoon._
4. Moving sluggishly; slow and unhurried in motion.
   - Simple: Moving in a slow, gentle way.
   - _Smoke rose in a lazy spiral from the chimney._
   - _The lazy current carried the raft downstream at a crawl._
5. Hanging loosely; drooping or limp.
   - Simple: Hanging down in a loose, droopy way.
   - _Her lazy eyelids drooped as the lecture dragged on._
   - _The flag hung in lazy folds with no wind to lift it._
8. Employing lazy evaluation; not computing a result until it is actually needed.
   - Simple: In computer programs, working out a result only when it is needed.
   - _Haskell relies on lazy evaluation, so values are computed only on demand._
   - _A lazy strategy skips any calculation whose result is never used._
9. Of a letter or symbol, turned to lie horizontal rather than standing upright.
   - Simple: Of a letter, turned on its side so it lies flat instead of standing up.
   - _The brand featured a lazy Y turned flat against the hide._
   - _On the old map, a lazy L marked the abandoned trail._
10. Of an eye, squinting or turning aside because of weak eye muscles.
   - Simple: Of an eye, weak and turning the wrong way because its muscles are not strong.
   - _Doctors gave him exercises to strengthen his lazy eye._
   - _A lazy eye in childhood can often be corrected with early treatment._

## Verb

6. To act in an idle manner; to laze about. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To rest and do very little.
   - _They lazy through the long summer afternoons without a care._
   - _I plan to lazy at home this weekend and recover._

## Noun

7. A person who avoids work or effort.
   - Simple: Someone who does not like to work.
   - _He was branded a lazy by colleagues tired of covering for him._
   - _The foreman had no patience for lazies on his crew._

## Adjective

11. Wicked; morally vicious. *(obsolete, UK)*
   - Simple: Wicked or cruel.

## Noun

12. A sloth, the slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammal of the forests of Central and South America. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A slow tree-dwelling animal of warm forests, also called a sloth.
   - _The explorer's journal noted a lazy clinging motionless to the canopy for hours._
   - _Sailors brought back a lazy from the jungle to show the curious crowds._

## Origin

Attested since 1540, its origin is uncertain. It probably comes from Low German and Middle Low German lasich ('slack, feeble, lazy'), from roots meaning 'feeble' or 'weak', going back through Old Saxon and Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root *las- ('weak'). An alternative account traces it to Early Modern English laysy, formed from lay much as tipsy comes from tip.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lazy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).