slothful

Etymology

It is formed from English sloth + -ful,^[2][3][4][5] first as slouthful, also sloutful.^[6][7] The base is from Middle English slouthe (“indolence, sluggishness”), formed on slou, slow, with the abstract suffix -th,^[3][2] in place of Old English slǣwþ.^[2][3] The Middle English adjective is from Old English slāw (“sluggish, lazy”).^[3] The OED compares sleuthful, formed on the older noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, disinclined to exert oneself, lazy; and of habits, marked by sloth: both c. 1400 in the OED, the first in the Pylgremage of Sowle.^[2] The MED dates that text to before 1500 (composed 1413), and its earliest dated quotation of the word is from about 1475.^[6] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century,^[3] Merriam-Webster to the 15th century^[7] and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The OED's first senses are still current.^[2] The noun sloth, in the sense "indolence", translated Latin accidia as the name of one of the deadly sins.^[3] The MED has it for "neglectful" as well as "indolent, sluggish".^[6] It was used with the for lazy people as a class before 1637, in Ben Jonson.^[2] In 1648, in Herrick, it appears as a noun for one lazy person.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "idle; lazy; sluggish; inactive; indolent; dull of motion", and quoted Proverbs: "He that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster."^[5] For slothfulness, Middle English also had sloth-head, recorded from about 1300.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – of a person, lazy, sluggish; of habits, marked by sloth.^[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1350–1400.^[4]
• before 1637 – the slothful, lazy people.^[2]
• 1648 – noun, a lazy person.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Unwilling to work or make an effort; lazy, sluggish: a slothful clerk who left every task for the morning.^[8][7][2]
2. Showing or marked by sloth: slothful habits.^[2][6]

Noun

1. A lazy person, a sluggard.^[2]

Word family

• slothfully
• slothfulness

Related words

• sloth
• slow

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
6. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins