shiftless

[shift-lis] / ˈʃɪft lɪs /

ADJECTIVE

lazy

Synonyms

WEAK

apathetic dallying directionless good-for-nothing idle inattentive incompetent indolent lackadaisical laggard lagging lethargic lifeless loafing procrastinating slack slothful unambitious unenergetic unindustrious unmotivated

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.

I knew it was chosen and served with care, and at a moment where I was feeling sleepy and shiftless, it called me.

From Slate • Jan. 11, 2023

Or the shiftless hack who hated his profession?

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2021

In that classic American tale by Washington Irving published in 1819, an amiable but shiftless farmer strolls out of his colonial village to go hunting in the Catskill Mountains.

From Salon • Jan. 27, 2021

Colm Meaney plays a shiftless guy in late-80s Ireland who is reasonably happy on welfare but has a Damascene conversion to entrepreneurialism.

From The Guardian • Apr. 16, 2020

How can you linger on this island, aimless and shiftless, while your people waste away?’

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

Vocabulary lists containing shiftless

Power Suffix: -less

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Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Life Is So Good

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