layabout

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

To the book’s heartsick narrator, Louise Brown, the man who embodies those old-fashioned virtues is Claude Collier, the 27-year-old layabout scion of an aristocratic New Orleans clan.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

At the center of this story is a gainfully employed layabout, an unnamed, possibly mythical “friend of a friend.”

From Salon • Jan. 14, 2026

It stars Putthipong Assaratanakul, better known as TV star and singer Billkin, as the layabout grandson and Usha Seamkhum as the terminally ill grandmother, both making their feature debuts as well.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2025

This is a grim continuum on which to exist, skating between the poles of high-achieving hustler and dissolute layabout.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2024

The supervisor is sitting extremely comfortably with his legs crossed and his arm hanging over the backrest here like some layabout.

From The Trial by Wyllie, David