1
as in slugs
a lazy person
the new boss quickly figured out who the do-nothings were and fired them
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bums
an idle worthless person
he indiscriminately dismisses the state legislators as a bunch of do-nothings who live at the taxpayers' expense
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for do-nothings
Noun
-
However, borax will not work on pests that aren't interested in eating it, such as termites, bed bugs, mosquitoes, flying insects above ground level, or any number of other outdoor pests, such as slugs and snails.—
Louise Parks,
Martha Stewart,
17 May 2026 -
Japanese beetles and slugs are pesky nuisances that will go after the basil in your garden.—
Heather Bien,
Southern Living,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
History buffs, avid hikers, music lovers, wine aficionados, and beach bums will all find a town to love in the Old Dominion.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
9 May 2026
-
For ski bums looking to hit the Colorado slopes without slogging through I-70 traffic, there’s no better destination than Winter Park.—
Sarah Cahalan,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
President Volodymyr Zelensky called the long-range strikes ‘entirely justified’ retaliation for Russian assaults on Kyiv, as Moscow reported intercepting more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones over its territory and occupied Crimea.—
Samya Kullab,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
-
In March, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California completed tests on rotor designs that could be used to fly those drones, spinning the experimental helicopter blades fast enough for their tips to exceed Mach 1 (the speed of sound).—
Josh Dinner,
Space.com,
17 May 2026
Noun
-
Rational fears or no, the fact remains that the 24 acres of Bayfront Park belong right now to a few misfits and derelicts.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
However, borax will not work on pests that aren't interested in eating it, such as termites, bed bugs, mosquitoes, flying insects above ground level, or any number of other outdoor pests, such as slugs and snails.—
Louise Parks,
Martha Stewart,
17 May 2026
-
The snails’ iron-rich shell is a vital part of their survival strategy—but not as a protective armor, says Chong Chen, a senior scientist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and a leading expert on the scaly-foot snail, who led the effort to map its genome.—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
Gobert was chief among the beggars imploring his teammates for a shred of consistency on that end of the floor.—
Jace Frederick,
Twin Cities,
27 Apr. 2026
-
In the old days beggars were drawn and quartered in that square.—
George Packer,
The Atlantic,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The former, in which Burnett and Hamilton did a song-and-dance routine as Dust Bowl-era hobos, marked the first of several times that the two performed together.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
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From oversized, slouchy hobos to structured East-West silhouettes and laptop-ready work totes, this season’s best suede bags deliver a luxurious polish that will elevate every fall wardrobe.—
Lauren Alexis Fisher,
Footwear News,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Housing prices and rents are inflated by restrictive zoning laws, union work and pay scale mandates, excessive building codes and environmental requirements, litigation and planning process delays, anti-landlord policies that favor deadbeats and squatters, and the list goes on.—
Adam B. Summers,
Oc Register,
25 Apr. 2026
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Housing prices and rents are inflated by restrictive zoning laws, union work and pay scale mandates, excessive building codes and environmental requirements, litigation and planning process delays, anti-landlord policies that favor deadbeats and squatters, and the list goes on.—
Adam Summers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Do-nothings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/do-nothings. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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