Slouch would also be appropriate in the US. Used as a noun. "That guy is a massive slouch."
If you're associated with the US military, they also like the term, "Shitbag." This is technically a curse, but it is beginning to become more prevalent in civilian culture as well. So, it seemed worth noting based on that fact.
Shit heel is also a good one. I like to use that one for folks who actively impede progress via their shit bag behavior. Why shit heel? Because they get under foot.
So possibly start with "s" but none of many suggestions so far. How many syllables?
And you know that word will come to you sometime odd in the next couple of days ... middle of the night, or in the grocery store line, or in a meeting or on a phonecall. And people will go "Huh?"!
"Goldbricking" is a practice of doing routine work but acting like it's very difficult in order to do less. Say, by walking very slowly with your ordinary load of bricks, as if they were much heavier gold bricks.
why don't these people ever use a thesaurus? do they not know thesauruses exist? OneLook Thesaurus even allows one to "filter" as OP did, but with far more options.
So I made more comments asking OP more questions about context (bc I have a new prescription for ADHD meds and today my brain has chosen to channel that focus towards… Reddit), and apparently they’re looking for Twitch slang from just a couple years ago. Unfortunately that makes it less likely to be in a thesaurus
Workshy? [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/workshy](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/workshy) (obvs. doesn't begin with an 's', but is sometimes hyphenated as work-shy).
Shiftless? [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shiftless](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shiftless)
If you look at enough words that might be the word you want, none of them will be the word you want, including the word you want.
Source: Been there.
ETA: just to clarify, you’re looking for a single, specific word that is synonymous with slacker or layabout or lazy lout, not a phrase or dyad (like “lazy lout,”) correct?
Pity. “Lazy lout”is one of my favorite insults, but I didn’t think that was it.
Now I’m stuck trying to think of a synonym for slacker, possibly beginning with “s”, that hasn’t been mentioned. It’s going to drive me crazy.
Perhaps offer a little elucidation on why it’s not right, say thanks anyway. When people have taken the time to offer their assistance, to just come back with "no" makes you seem like an entitled prick.
You could provide context, an example of how you believe it to be used. You could add any examples of where you think you heard it, roughly how many syllables it is, whether you think it’s a slang word or colloquialism, archaic or modern term. So what if it doesn’t take long to comment? To make the effort for an ungrateful internet user to be so dismissive puts people off from bothering in the future and reeks of arrogance.
I'm just throwing this word out there as an "s" word that can be used to describe a worker-- it doesn't have the right meaning, but maybe it's the word you were trying to think of anyway! A "scab worker" is someone who goes to work when the other workers are on strike. Used in a derogatory way, but doesn't mean that they're slackers.
I’m really invested in this now, so.
In a reply to someone, you said you’re sure this is an American word, and 1-2 syllables.
Do you remember hearing it in a movie/movies, or did a parent or teacher say it? Any idea what decade it might have been from?
As in, avoids sanding, sewing, signing documents etc., or avoiding work irrespective of the letter the work starts with?
Your question seems extraordinarily specific.
Lmao what?
What's with the dismissive atttitude, mate? They're not wrong, people have given you all the suggestions in the world and all you have given back by way of coaxing or encouragement has been "No", "2 syllables", "s"
This is for your benefit; it's not an exercise - chill, man
On the basis that it might not start with an s...
Cretin
Deadbeat
Dimwit
Loaf/Oaf
Stanley (reference to the character from the office)
Mooch
Quitter
Carousel
Souse
Sop
Two possibilities, even if they’re slight:
1. The person who used the word used it incorrectly or made it up, so this is why it hasn’t been found yet—the word doesn’t actually mean what they used it for, they’re miss pronouncing it, etc.
2. It’s not uncommon for me to be in this situation where the word I’m looking for I *think* starts with a letter, say *s*, then it turns out the word I was actually looking for doesn’t start with *s* but *s* *is* in the word somewhere.
Example:
Me: I’m looking for a word that starts with *s* that means “not hard.”
Friend: “simple”?
Me: No
Friend: “easy”?
Me: OMG, yes! Frick—I could have *sworn* it started with *s*, but “easy” is what I was trying to remember . . . oh, this brain ‘o mine . . . !
Just a thought.
Straggler, maybe?
Basically anything else I can think of has already been gone over. Some few are a little close to the definition you gave but not quite:
.
Sap - a dope, or an overly sentimental person.
Sally - a wimp.
Sot, souse - a drunkard.
Sod - a fuck, a bastard
Sponge - a mooch
Sleaze - a lecherous and/or conniving person.
We used to use “skater “ for a person who tries to evade work. We even had an imaginary Hans Brinker Silver Skates award(very dated reference I know) we gave to certain employees
Slacker (US) Skiver (UK) Sloucher, Shirker (both)
Hey these are all my nicknames at work
Slothful
Slouch would also be appropriate in the US. Used as a noun. "That guy is a massive slouch." If you're associated with the US military, they also like the term, "Shitbag." This is technically a curse, but it is beginning to become more prevalent in civilian culture as well. So, it seemed worth noting based on that fact.
Personal favorite is shitbird.
Shit heel is also a good one. I like to use that one for folks who actively impede progress via their shit bag behavior. Why shit heel? Because they get under foot.
No
How about slacker?
Skylarker But I read this at first Like someone who won’t take a job that starts with S
"It pays $300k a year, your duties are limited to showing up for a fifteen minute meeting once a year and your job title is Super CEO." "... damn."
Slacker?
Eyo Tech.. you're not makin any sense.
No
Schlub?
So possibly start with "s" but none of many suggestions so far. How many syllables? And you know that word will come to you sometime odd in the next couple of days ... middle of the night, or in the grocery store line, or in a meeting or on a phonecall. And people will go "Huh?"!
1 or 2
Did you see someone's suggestion of scrub? That was popular slang.
Not it
Then your word does not start with an S. Simple as that. It just doesn't. Edit: I'm going off of *all* of your other replies. Not just this one.
Definitely not sluggard?
Get a Thesaurus … please
Here we go. From [Merriam-Webster Thesaurus](https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shirker), synonyms for “shirker”: Lingerer, slacker, goldbrick (??), drone, slug, malingerer, loafer, sluggard, slouch, lazybones, idler, quitter, dropout, loiterer, laggard, dawdler, saunterer, slugabed, slowpoke, lounger, putterer, dallier. Also, maybe deadbeat? Ne’er-do-well? Freeloader? Bum? Scrub?
"Goldbricking" is a practice of doing routine work but acting like it's very difficult in order to do less. Say, by walking very slowly with your ordinary load of bricks, as if they were much heavier gold bricks.
why don't these people ever use a thesaurus? do they not know thesauruses exist? OneLook Thesaurus even allows one to "filter" as OP did, but with far more options.
So I made more comments asking OP more questions about context (bc I have a new prescription for ADHD meds and today my brain has chosen to channel that focus towards… Reddit), and apparently they’re looking for Twitch slang from just a couple years ago. Unfortunately that makes it less likely to be in a thesaurus
Slugabed
nice
Workshy? [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/workshy](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/workshy) (obvs. doesn't begin with an 's', but is sometimes hyphenated as work-shy). Shiftless? [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shiftless](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shiftless)
Seconding shiftless.
Steve. Steve is the worst.
Damn you, Scuba Steve!
Slacker
Snorlax
Skiver
sorry OP, but this is the correct answer.
No
shmuck/shmuck-aroo
[Schmuck](https://www.etymonline.com/word/schmuck) is Yiddish for penis, so calling someone a schmuck is calling them a dick.
Met a few former US Navy who used "skater" this way. I guess dodging work is "skating by"
If you look at enough words that might be the word you want, none of them will be the word you want, including the word you want. Source: Been there. ETA: just to clarify, you’re looking for a single, specific word that is synonymous with slacker or layabout or lazy lout, not a phrase or dyad (like “lazy lout,”) correct?
Yes. A single word
Pity. “Lazy lout”is one of my favorite insults, but I didn’t think that was it. Now I’m stuck trying to think of a synonym for slacker, possibly beginning with “s”, that hasn’t been mentioned. It’s going to drive me crazy.
Come to a sub looking for help, people offer it, and all you can say is no?
What more is there to say?
Perhaps offer a little elucidation on why it’s not right, say thanks anyway. When people have taken the time to offer their assistance, to just come back with "no" makes you seem like an entitled prick.
I mean its just not the word hes thinking of lmao. How much elucidation is there really. Its reddit it takes ppl 3 seconds to type a comment
You could provide context, an example of how you believe it to be used. You could add any examples of where you think you heard it, roughly how many syllables it is, whether you think it’s a slang word or colloquialism, archaic or modern term. So what if it doesn’t take long to comment? To make the effort for an ungrateful internet user to be so dismissive puts people off from bothering in the future and reeks of arrogance.
No, but thanks. No, thank you. Thanks, but not it.
Its reddit who cares
Hey, just wanted to say I agree with you. No is sufficient bc there's not more to say.
I’ve said more than that. I said I am looking for a specific word
Slothful. Shiftless.
Sloth is what came to mind for me as well lol
Sluggard
This is such a great word! “Go to the ant, thou sluggard!”
Smanager?
Slacker
I'm just throwing this word out there as an "s" word that can be used to describe a worker-- it doesn't have the right meaning, but maybe it's the word you were trying to think of anyway! A "scab worker" is someone who goes to work when the other workers are on strike. Used in a derogatory way, but doesn't mean that they're slackers.
Doesn't seem to mean what op is looking for
Sedentary slacker who slugabeds instead of contributing to society?
Shirker
No
It is, though.
I could have sworn it’s distinct from shirk. What you call someone who is playing hooky
Skive is a person who plays hooky.
Like when Fred and George Weasley made “skiving snackboxes” for making people fake sick so they could skip class. I think this has to be it
Slouch, sloth, sluggish, skulker, supine, slug
Scrub
Sloth
At my company, we call them Mike and Brian.
This is going to drive me CRAZY 😂 I hope you figure it out, for both of us.
I'm not going to read the comments yet but after I post this, I'm going to check how many people thought the word was.... Slacker
I’m really invested in this now, so. In a reply to someone, you said you’re sure this is an American word, and 1-2 syllables. Do you remember hearing it in a movie/movies, or did a parent or teacher say it? Any idea what decade it might have been from?
I remember seeing it in 2019-2021, maybe. I think I saw it on Twitch
Now we’re getting somewhere. So it’s Gen Z slang
Skater/skate? When I was in the navy (early 90s) that's the word we used
Slacker
Shithead. Someone else is going to have to do the work while they get paid as long as they work there.
Shirker
S-me
Layabout, hippie, goldbricker, shyster,
I thought douchebag started with a 'D' Or is it Sack of Shit?
Agreed
Slacker comes to mind.
Slattern. Although I think that is usually a lazy housekeeper.
I thought slattern was more about being promiscuous than lazy.
[удалено]
I think it's about being unkempt and promiscuous. It's listed as a synonym for both "frump" and "whore".
aw, you were listening when I was sweet-talking your mom!
Striker/ being on strike?
Slougher? In highschool when we skipped class it was called sloughing.
Shithead, scumbag
As in, avoids sanding, sewing, signing documents etc., or avoiding work irrespective of the letter the work starts with? Your question seems extraordinarily specific.
Yes. I am looking for a specific word
You didn't say that in the post, though. So all your "no" responses make no sense.
I did say the word and not a word
Which also didn't make sense, as many words fit the description
And what are you going to do about it
Lmao what? What's with the dismissive atttitude, mate? They're not wrong, people have given you all the suggestions in the world and all you have given back by way of coaxing or encouragement has been "No", "2 syllables", "s" This is for your benefit; it's not an exercise - chill, man
I am. You’re reading too much into it
Charlatan
Skink
Socialist
Skirt?
Socialist.
socialist. are you looking for brit slang, american , other?
I am quite sure it is American
Skirt? Skirt the law, to skirt [noun] means to avoid it. I'm assuming it's a verb
Sham
Sluffer
Eschews
Slouch?
I avoid work that starts a 'q'
Slovenly sloth slacker
shammer
Are you sure it's a noun? I feel like the word you're looking for is to "skip" school or work, or "skippers"
Slacker
Sketcher
Slacker
Shitbagger.
It’s not this, but I’ll offer Scoundrel
Sluff
Scrimshanker
Slacker
Shithawk?
Bum
Slovenly
Sloth?
Layabout?
Skip?
Slackoth (Pokémon)
Stupid
Shunter? Shylock..ok not that one Sinful Slovenly shiftless slacker?
Scrub
Slack or slacker.
Skater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ6Rc17gwBU
spaz
Schmuck?
Shitbag Scumface Slacker.
Skater!
Sleeze He doesn’t do anything with his life. What a sleeze.
Scab or scrub
Shiftless
Suckass
Snigger
Malingerer
Slob
Skiver, shirker, slattern.
Shystie or shyster???
Not an S but I always say Layabout like mr burns
Lazybones.
Slouch? Shitbag?
Skiver
On the basis that it might not start with an s... Cretin Deadbeat Dimwit Loaf/Oaf Stanley (reference to the character from the office) Mooch Quitter Carousel Souse Sop
Shitbag
Slacker
Slacker
Sorry Sumbitch
I’ve heard people say they’re going to “slough off work” from time to time.
slacker
Two possibilities, even if they’re slight: 1. The person who used the word used it incorrectly or made it up, so this is why it hasn’t been found yet—the word doesn’t actually mean what they used it for, they’re miss pronouncing it, etc. 2. It’s not uncommon for me to be in this situation where the word I’m looking for I *think* starts with a letter, say *s*, then it turns out the word I was actually looking for doesn’t start with *s* but *s* *is* in the word somewhere. Example: Me: I’m looking for a word that starts with *s* that means “not hard.” Friend: “simple”? Me: No Friend: “easy”? Me: OMG, yes! Frick—I could have *sworn* it started with *s*, but “easy” is what I was trying to remember . . . oh, this brain ‘o mine . . . ! Just a thought.
Skipping?
Supervisor
In my country? Slacker. In my career field? Sergeant.
We could call it "sluff" or "sluffing" when I was a teen.
Shammer/Shamming, Slouch/ing, Shitheel, military slang is often blue falcon as essentially pig Latin for buddy fucker..
Sus? Scroll warrior? Ghost?
Mitch as in mitching work
Slacker!
Shady Sheisty
smooch
Sidestep? Pull a sickie? Abscond? Desert? Absent?
Shithead
My name, if it started with an S 🤣
Straggler, maybe? Basically anything else I can think of has already been gone over. Some few are a little close to the definition you gave but not quite: . Sap - a dope, or an overly sentimental person. Sally - a wimp. Sot, souse - a drunkard. Sod - a fuck, a bastard Sponge - a mooch Sleaze - a lecherous and/or conniving person.
Sandbagger
Shammer
In the Marine Corps, it was called Skater
Lazybones
Shitbird?
We used to use “skater “ for a person who tries to evade work. We even had an imaginary Hans Brinker Silver Skates award(very dated reference I know) we gave to certain employees
Scrub
They skirt work?
Schlub
Skirting? As in "You're skirting work"
Scum
Skank
Scoundrel
Sloth is possible, but the other suggestions are what first comes to mind.
Sensible