as in slug
a lazy person
the hot weather turned us into a bunch of idlers
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of idler
His discoveries promise to upset the gaming tables of every school of thought that wagers on new and untested art for idlers’ rewards: the love of novelty, the will to make or unmake reputations, the wish to be hip or au courant.
—
Mark Greif, Harper's Magazine, 26 July 2024
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
If the flaneur is an active idler, the badaud is a stationary, passive one, ready to stare open-mouthed at any phenomenon that offers novelty or puzzlement.
—Julian Barnes, The New York Review of Books, 27 Apr. 2022
That these dialogues are a joint project of the WEF and the entitled idler next in line to the British throne is another reminder that democracy is no part of the Davos game.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 29 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idler
Noun
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Later, a pair of slugs that help the seed cross an arid landscape, like camels in the desert, glisten vividly.—
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The slug eats algae, turns bright green, and spends the rest of its life converting light, water, and air into sugar, like a leaf.—
Noun
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This trend accelerated in December as the flag state emerged as a critical shield against drone strikes and vessel seizures.—
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Rare earths and the magnets made from them are used heavily by militaries in weapons like fighter jets, drones and missiles, and are also critical for manufacturing goods such as smartphones and electric vehicles.—
Noun
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At the risk of not sounding like a fashion person, ballet flats and loafers don’t scratch my shoe-itch the way a cool pair of trainers do.—
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Cole Haan Grand City Platform Oxford Derby These Oxford shoes from Cole Haan are like loafers, sneakers…and heels!—
Noun
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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.—
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Clearly, supervision at your job is lax, and your sluggard classmate is taking advantage of that.—
Noun
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One of my prompts on the app detailed my phobia of snails in detail.—
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Three days prior, UCLA permitted Iowa to slow the game to a snail’s pace, in which the Hawkeyes thrive.—
Noun
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Actress Jodie Foster was just photographed toting the perfect hands-free carryall—sort of like a hybrid, crossbody-bag-meets-bum-bag.—
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And the oversized top has a split hem that falls below the bum.—
Noun
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Not surprisingly, some colonists preferred to be layabouts.—
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The revolution is in tatters, and DiCaprio’s Bob, once a celebrity rebel, is now a benignly useless substance-using layabout who tries, in his shambling way, to take care of his and Perfidia’s daughter, Willa (played with a no-nonsense radiance by Chase Infiniti).—
Noun
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Zoey’s deadbeat father, who left her as a baby to become a rock star, does not show up to do any sort of healing.—
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Andres was born in Cuba to a deadbeat alcoholic who beat him, according to his attorneys.—
Cite this Entry
“Idler.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idler. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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