lazy slob

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableinformaldisapproving

   An insulting word for someone who is unwilling to work and is also messy or dirty.

   Grammar: Countable: you can say a lazy slob or two lazy slobs.

   Patterns

   • call someone a lazy slob
   • a lazy slob who never does anything

   He called his roommate a lazy slob because the dishes had been sitting there for a week.

   She doesn't want to be seen as a lazy slob, so she cleans the flat every Saturday morning.

   Stop behaving like a lazy slob and help me carry these boxes.

2. 2nouncountablehumorousinformal

   Used jokingly or self-mockingly about yourself when you have been idle or untidy.

   Grammar: Same countable use, but here the speaker is talking about themselves, which makes it sound playful rather than cruel.

   Patterns

   • feel like a lazy slob
   • I'm such a lazy slob

   I spent all Sunday on the sofa in my pajamas — I felt like such a lazy slob.

   After a week of takeout and no laundry, I admitted to my sister that I'd become a lazy slob.

Word forms

Common combinations

call someone a lazy slob

The coach called him a lazy slob in front of the whole team.

a total lazy slob

By the end of the holidays he was a total lazy slob.

feel like a lazy slob

If I skip the gym twice in a row, I feel like a lazy slob.

a lazy slob who never helps

Her brother is a lazy slob who never helps with anything.

Synonyms and how they differ

idler

Idler means someone who avoids work but says nothing about being messy, and it is a little more formal than lazy slob.

slacker

Slacker is informal and focuses on avoiding work or effort; it does not usually suggest dirtiness.

layabout

Layabout is a British informal word for a lazy person, often said with disapproval, but it does not mention untidiness.

bum

Bum is American informal and can mean a lazy person, but it also has other meanings, so it is less precise here.

Opposites

Word family

lazily adverb

In a lazy way; without effort or energy.

laziness noun

The quality of being unwilling to work or use energy.

slobbish adjective

Behaving in a messy, untidy way, like a slob.

Commonly confused: lazy slob or slab? lazy slob or slovenly?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “lazy slob”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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