sloth

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a disinclination to work or exert yourself
  2. noun any of several slow-moving arboreal mammals of South America and Central America; they hang from branches back downward and feed on leaves and fruits
  3. noun apathy and inactivity in the practice of virtue (personified as one of the deadly sins)

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”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

slothfulness

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