/sləʊθ/, /slɒθ/, /slɔθ/
OriginFrom Middle English slouthe, slewthe (“laziness”), from Old English slǣwþ (“sloth, indolence, laziness, inertness, torpor”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiwiþu, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwiþō (“slowness, lateness”), equivalent to slow + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots sleuth (“sloth, slowness”).
- uncountableLaziness; slowness in the mindset; disinclination to action or labour.
“Who having ſpilt much blood, and don much waſte / Subduing Nations, and achievd thereby / Fame in the World, high titles, and rich prey, / Shall change thir courſe to pleaſure, eaſe, and ſloth, / Surf”
“Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears.”
“Mr. Elliot's frank statement that "sloth and untidiness are indefensible" is a sign that the task will be tackled with vigour.”
- countable, especially, uncountableAny herbivorous, arboreal South American mammal of the families Choloepodidae and Bradypodidae, noted for its slowness and inactivity.
- countable, uncountableAny of the extinct group of ground sloths.
- collective, countable, rareA group of bears.
- intransitive, obsolete, transitiveTo be idle; to idle (away time).
“[…] the most of professors are for imbezzeling, mispending and slothing away their time, their talents, their opportunities to do good in […]”
“That you endeavour carefully to please your Lady, Master or Mistress, be faithful, diligent and submissive to them, encline not to sloth or laze in bed, but rise early in a morning.”
Formssloths(plural) · sleuth(alternative) · sloath(alternative) · slowth(alternative) · sloths(present, singular, third-person) · slothing(participle, present) · slothed(participle, past) · slothed(past)