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shiftless

shift·less
S s

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [shift-lis]
    • /ˈʃɪft lɪs/
    • /ˈʃɪft.ləs/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [shift-lis]
    • /ˈʃɪft lɪs/

Definitions of shiftless word

  • adjective shiftless lacking in resourcefulness; inefficient; lazy. 1
  • adjective shiftless lacking in incentive, ambition, or aspiration. 1
  • adjective shiftless idle, useless 1
  • adjective shiftless If you describe someone as shiftless, you mean that they are lazy and have no desire to achieve anything. 0
  • adjective shiftless lacking in ambition or initiative 0
  • adjective shiftless lacking the will or ability to do or accomplish; incapable, inefficient, lazy, etc. 0

Information block about the term

Origin of shiftless

First appearance:

before 1555
One of the 31% oldest English words
First recorded in 1555-65; shift + -less

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Shiftless

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

shiftless popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 62% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 50% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

shiftless usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for shiftless

adj shiftless

  • aimless — A person or activity that is aimless has no clear purpose or plan.
  • directionless — the act or an instance of directing.
  • down and out — downward; going or directed downward: the down escalator.
  • faineant — Also, faineant [fey-nee-uh nt] /ˈfeɪ ni ənt/ (Show IPA). idle; indolent.
  • feckless — ineffective; incompetent; futile: feckless attempts to repair the plumbing.

noun shiftless

  • ne'er-do-well — an idle, worthless person; a person who is ineffectual, unsuccessful, or completely lacking in merit; good-for-nothing.

adjective shiftless

  • dallying — Present participle of dally.
  • drony — (of a sound) Dronelike.
  • idle — not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.
  • itinerate — to go from place to place, especially in a regular circuit, as a preacher or judge.
  • laggard — a person or thing that lags; lingerer; loiterer.

adverb shiftless

  • idly — not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.

Top questions with shiftless

  • what does shiftless mean?

See also

Matching words

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