sloth

See also: slóð

English

Hoffman's two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni) (sense 2)

Alternative forms

Etymology

From 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”).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /slɒθ/, (dated) /sləʊθ/
    • Audio (UK); /slɒθ/:(file)
    • Audio (UK, dated); /sləʊθ/:(file)
  • (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /slɔθ/, /sloʊθ/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /slɑθ/
  • (New Zealand) IPA(key): /slɒθ/
  • Rhymes: -əʊθ, -ɒθ

Noun

sloth (countable and uncountable, plural sloths)

  1. (uncountable) Laziness; slowness of mind; disinclination to action or labour; a feeling combining indifference and lethargy; a dragging idleness.
    Synonyms: acedia, slothfulness
    Antonyms: diligence, liveliness
    Hypernym: seven deadly sins
    Hot summer days inspire a sense of sloth in me.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 787–792:
      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, / Surfet, and luſt, till wantonneſs and pride / Raiſe out of friendſhip hoſtil deeds in Peace.
    • 1758, Benjamin Franklin, Preliminary Address to the Pennsylvania Almanac:
      Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears.
    • 1953 April, “Arrears of Station Maintenance”, in Railway Magazine, page 217:
      Mr. Elliot's frank statement that "sloth and untidiness are indefensible" is a sign that the task will be tackled with vigour.
  2. (countable) Any of the suborder Folivora of mammals noted for their slowness, the extant members of which dwell in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America.
  3. (collective, rare, countable) A group of bears.
    Synonym: sleuth
    • 1919, Francis Rolt-Wheeler, The Boy with the U.S. Trappers‎[1], Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company, page 266:
      "Thirteen!" interrupted Gavan in surprise. "Isn't that a large number for a sloth of bears?" "It certainly is," the hunter answered, "six is as many as I ever saw together. Maybe the tracks looked like a lot more. That happens.
    • 2014, Stacey Marinaro, The First Unicorn‎[2], Lulu.com, page 12:
      One day there was a sloth of grizzly bears trying to catch salmon fish from the river
    • 1879, Thomas Tindall Wildridge, The misereres of Beverley minster: a complete series of drawings; with notes on the plates and subject‎[3], J Plaxton, page 23:
      Man (head broken off) on horseback, leading three (technically a sloth) muzzled bears by square-linked chain.

Synonyms

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

sloth (third-person singular simple present sloths, present participle slothing, simple past and past participle slothed)

  1. (obsolete, intransitive, transitive) To be idle; to idle (away time).
    He has been slothing this whole weekend.
    • 1676, John Bunyan, The Strait Gate, or, Great Difficulty of Going to Heaven; […], London: […] Francis Smith, […], →OCLC, page 69:
      […] the most of professors are for imbezzeling, mispending and slothing away their time, their talents, their opportunities to do good in […]
    • 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid‎[4], London: T. Passinger, page 2:
      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.

Further reading

Anagrams

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