LAYABOUT Synonyms: 51 Similar and Opposite Words

layabout

noun

ˈlā-ə-ˌbau̇t

Definition of layabout

as in slug

a lazy person she regretted ever asking that layabout to be her roommate, as he created the mess of two people and refused to help with anything

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of layabout As the story begins, Mary and Boo are neighbors, unemployed millennial layabouts who rarely leave their rooms. — Katie Rife, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2026 Tamma’s mother is partnered with a drug-dealing layabout; Dan’s mother, a onetime successful novelist, has a worsening heart condition. — Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2026 Not surprisingly, some colonists preferred to be layabouts. — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 27 Nov. 2025 Moore’s then-husband Bruce Willis plays against-type as the abusive layabout husband of hairdresser Joyce (Glenne Headly). — Katie Rife, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for layabout

Recent Examples of Synonyms for layabout

Noun

With the light load of powder that was behind them, these slugs couldn’t possibly have killed the tigress unless an extremely lucky shot had put them into a vital area at very close range.

— Leslie E. Tassell, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2026
Remember to bury the container deep enough to let the slugs in and out.

— Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of slug

Noun

Between Thursday and Sunday, Russia fired almost 1,500 drones at Ukraine, and around 800 of them were jet-powered, Zelensky said.

— Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Latest drone footage from CCTV shows rescue workers using lifting equipment in an attempt to restore and rebuild a road by the turbulent currents and in between the towering mountains.

— Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of drone

Noun

Their name exudes the essence of an idler and slacker, but women’s loafers themselves are quite the opposite.

— Gaby Keiderling, Harper's BAZAAR, 19 Jan. 2023
This represents the loss of an idea of what the capital should represent, the removal of a place that was an idler’s haven.

— Anandi Mishra, The Atlantic, 30 July 2022

Definition of idler

Noun

Alluding to the attack only in the title, Anedda notes a few events showing the effects, patterns and tasks of an illustrator, the men seeking martyrdom, as well as the earthworms, gnats and the snail working the soil.

— Wallis Wilde-Menozzi, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026
Scientists rescued 34 endangered humped tree snails from Guam by collecting them in empty peanut butter jars ahead of a powerful typhoon.

— Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of snail

Noun

Scar then proceeds to desolate the kingdom, with the help of hyenas, while Simba, in exile, grows up to become a pleasure-hunting, grub-eating sluggard.

— Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 July 2019
Clearly, supervision at your job is lax, and your sluggard classmate is taking advantage of that.

— Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2017

Definition of sluggard

Browse Nearby Words

lay

layabout

layabouts

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“Layabout.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/layabout. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of layabout

noun

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