work-shy

Meanings

1. 1adjectivenot comparabledisapprovingBritish

   Unwilling to work and often avoiding jobs, used to criticize someone.

   Grammar: Describes a person or group, not a thing: a work-shy teenager, work-shy adults.

   Patterns

   • work-shy person
   • work-shy youth

   The newspaper called them work-shy, but many had been looking for jobs for months.

   He is not work-shy; he just cannot find suitable employment in this area.

2. 2adjectivenot comparabledisapprovingBritish

   Relating to a dislike of work or a habit of avoiding it.

   Grammar: Used before a noun to describe an attitude or behavior: work-shy attitude.

   Patterns

   • work-shy attitude
   • work-shy behavior

   The manager complained about a work-shy attitude among some staff.

   Her work-shy behavior worried her parents.

Common combinations

work-shy youth

Politicians often talk about work-shy youth, but the causes are complex.

work-shy benefits claimant

The article unfairly described every benefits claimant as work-shy.

accused of being work-shy

He was accused of being work-shy after turning down two job offers.

Synonyms and how they differ

lazy

Lazy is a general criticism of someone who avoids effort; work-shy specifically refers to avoiding work or employment.

idle

Idle can mean not working or not active; work-shy suggests a deliberate unwillingness to work.

unemployed

Unemployed simply means without a job and is neutral; work-shy is critical and suggests choice.

Opposites

Word family

work-shyness noun

The quality of being unwilling to work.

Commonly confused: work-shy or shy?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “work-shy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words