Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Disinclined to work or exertion; lazy, idle: Describes a person who avoids work or physical effort, often due to a lack of motivation or a preference for inactivity.

Usage

• The term "work-shy" is used to characterize an individual's habitual attitude toward labor. It is often pejorative, implying criticism of a person's unwillingness to engage in productive activity.
• It can describe a temporary state or a more permanent character trait.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The manager complained that the new intern was work-shy and often avoided assigned tasks.
  • He was labeled as work-shy because he consistently found excuses to leave early.

Advanced Usage

• The term is frequently used in sociological or economic discussions about unemployment, sometimes to controversially suggest that a lack of employment is due to personal laziness rather than structural factors.
  • Politicians argued that the benefits system was creating a work-shy generation.

Variants and Related Words

• Idle (adj): Not active or in use; avoiding work.
• Indolent (adj): Wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy.
• Slothful (adj): Lazily inactive.
• Faineant (adj, literary): Idle or ineffective.

Synonyms

• Lazy
• Idle
• Indolent
• Slothful
• Shiftless

Antonyms

• Industrious
• Hard-working
• Diligent
• Assiduous
• Energetic

Adjective

1. disinclined to work or exertion
   • faineant kings under whose rule the country languished
   • an indolent hanger-on
   • too lazy to wash the dishes
   • shiftless idle youth
   • slothful employees
   • the unemployed are not necessarily work-shy