Meaning & use
dosser
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Meanings
nouncountabledisapprovingBritishinformal
A person who is lazy and avoids doing proper work, in a rude, joking way.
Grammar: Used mainly in British speech to criticize or tease someone; it can feel insulting.
Patterns
- a lazy dosser
His mother called him a dosser because he never got up before noon.
The manager complained that two of the new staff were dossers.
Don't be such a dosser and help us carry the boxes.
nouncountableBritishinformaldisapproving
A person without a home who sleeps in rough or temporary places, such as a doorway or cheap shelter.
Grammar: Dated and unkind in tone; most speakers now prefer the phrase rough sleeper.
Patterns
- a dosser in something
Older writers described dossers sleeping in doorways near the station.
The charity now avoids words like dosser and prefers person sleeping rough.
In the novel, a dosser shares his bread with the narrator.
Word forms
| plural | dossers |
|---|
Common combinations
- lazy dosser
- The teacher called the boy a lazy dosser.
- a bit of a dosser
- My brother is a bit of a dosser on weekends.
- call someone a dosser
- Don't call someone a dosser just because they are tired.
- dosser's lodging
- The book describes a cheap dosser's lodging in the old city.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slacker
- Slacker is the common American equivalent for someone who avoids effort, and it is slightly milder than dosser.
- layabout
- Layabout is a British term for someone who lazes around, and it sounds a little more old-fashioned than dosser.
- idler
- Idler is formal and mild, so it works in writing where dosser would sound rude.
- shirker
- Shirker specifically means someone who avoids a duty or task, not just one who is lazy in general.
Opposites
Word family
- doss verb
- to sleep roughly, or to spend time doing nothing, British slang
- doss house noun
- a cheap, basic lodging house
- dossing noun
- idling or sleeping rough, British slang
Commonly confused: dosser or dossier?
dosser vs dossier
A dossier is a file of documents about a person or case, and it only looks and sounds similar to dosser.
Practice
In British slang, what does calling someone a dosser suggest?
Choose one answer.
A dosser is a lazy person who avoids work, so the first option fits. The other options describe qualities that have nothing to do with the word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dosser”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.