as in lazy
not easily aroused to action or work
shiftless spongers who never thought to do anything for themselves
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Recent Examples of shiftless
Why didn’t Tania just get one of her fellow Council wokesters to hire her shiftless, entitled kin?
—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
28 Sep. 2025
After the volunteers slink back to Paddy’s, the most shiftless person on campus will once again be Principal Coleman (Janelle James), whose ineptitude and vanity don’t prevent her from advocating for the students from time to time.
—
Hannah Giorgis,
The Atlantic,
9 Jan. 2025
Gill’s benevolent steadfastness is supported by his loving, tolerant wife (Shailene Woodley) but mocked by his shiftless brother (a very funny Pete Davidson), who urges him to cash in.
—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Sep. 2023
The filmmaker wrote, directed, shot, edited, and starred in this essentially plotless Super 16 slice-of-life about a shiftless Austin dude who couch surfs across the state.
—
A.a. Dowd,
Chron,
4 Apr. 2023
Expectations of real gains in livelihoods among China’s large, increasingly shiftless rural population will be much harder to fulfill in an era of slower growth.
—
Scott Rozelle and Matthew Boswell,
Foreign Affairs,
5 Oct. 2022
Their anger focused on a faceless government that neglected people like them and on supposedly shiftless immigrants and minorities who feasted at the public trough.
—
Helen Epstein,
The New York Review of Books,
10 Mar. 2020
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
28 Sep. 2025
After the volunteers slink back to Paddy’s, the most shiftless person on campus will once again be Principal Coleman (Janelle James), whose ineptitude and vanity don’t prevent her from advocating for the students from time to time.
—
Hannah Giorgis,
The Atlantic,
9 Jan. 2025
Gill’s benevolent steadfastness is supported by his loving, tolerant wife (Shailene Woodley) but mocked by his shiftless brother (a very funny Pete Davidson), who urges him to cash in.
—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Sep. 2023
The filmmaker wrote, directed, shot, edited, and starred in this essentially plotless Super 16 slice-of-life about a shiftless Austin dude who couch surfs across the state.
—
A.a. Dowd,
Chron,
4 Apr. 2023
Expectations of real gains in livelihoods among China’s large, increasingly shiftless rural population will be much harder to fulfill in an era of slower growth.
—
Scott Rozelle and Matthew Boswell,
Foreign Affairs,
5 Oct. 2022
Their anger focused on a faceless government that neglected people like them and on supposedly shiftless immigrants and minorities who feasted at the public trough.
—
Helen Epstein,
The New York Review of Books,
10 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shiftless
Adjective
-
And just like Alito, some members of my family have forgotten our history and support Trump or favor some of his immigration policies, dismissing new arrivals as criminals or lazy.
-
Today, the park operates more than 40 family-friendly water attractions including thrilling slides, casual pools and a lazy river.
Adjective
-
Reclaiming idle assets cuts waste, spend and unnecessary procurement at the same time.
-
No, not the usual idle front-row niceties, but the scorching heat wave that has settled like a dense cloud over the City of Lights.
Cite this Entry
“Shiftless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shiftless. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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