A sluggard is someone who is habitually lazy and avoids work or effort. The word goes beyond someone having a lazy afternoon: a sluggard makes a lifestyle of avoiding responsibility and sleeping when they should be working.

Just as a slug barely moves, a sluggard barely stirs to accomplish anything. You'll find the word throughout the Bible's Book of Proverbs, which warns against sluggardly habits with memorable images: “As a door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed.”

While everyone feels tired or unmotivated sometimes, a sluggard makes excuses to avoid effort entirely. When there's a group project at school, a sluggard finds reasons not to contribute. When chores need doing, a sluggard suddenly becomes very interested in something else.