DictionaryAI

sloth

USSLAWTH/slɔθ/SLOHTH/sləʊθ/

Pluralsloths

5 meanings of sloth

Practice

  1. 1
    tree animalnouncountable or uncountable
    An animal of Central and South America that lives in trees, eats plants, and is known for moving slowly.

    A sloth was hanging upside down from a branch, chewing slowly on leaves.

    At the zoo, the kids waited and waited, but the sloths hardly moved all afternoon.

    Note
  2. 2
    lazinessnoununcountable
    Being lazy, with a slow attitude and little wish to act or do work.

    After a week of sloth, he finally cleaned his messy room.

    The coach said sloth, not a lack of talent, was holding the team back.

    Similarlaziness, idleness, indolence, lethargy, inertia

    Oppositediligence, industry, energy

    Note
  3. 3
    extinct animalnouncountable or uncountable
    Any of the ground sloths, a group of sloths that no longer exist.

    At the museum, we saw the bones of a sloth as big as a car.

    Thousands of years ago, giant sloths walked on the ground instead of climbing trees.

    Note

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    group of bearsnounrarecollectivecountable
    A number of bears that are together as a group.

    A sloth of bears came down to the river to drink.

    The ranger warned us that a sloth of bears was feeding in the berry bushes.

  2. 5
    be idleverbobsoletetransitive or intransitive
    To do nothing and not work, or to let time go by doing nothing.

    On rainy days he likes to sloth in bed until noon.

    That you endeavour carefully to please your Lady, Master or Mistress, be faithful, diligent and submissive to them, encline not to sloth or laze in bed, but rise early in a morning.
    1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-MaidHere, sloth means be lazy and waste time doing nothing.
    Note

Practice

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Origin

This word comes from an old English word meaning "laziness." It is made from "slow" plus the ending "-th."