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slacker

 - 5 dictionary results

slack⋅er

  [slak-er]
Use slacker in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who evades his or her duty or work; shirker.
2. a person who evades military service.
3. an esp. educated young person who is antimaterialistic, purposeless, apathetic, and usually works in a dead-end job.
Origin:
1790–1800; slack1 + -er1; def. 3 popularized by the film Slackers (1991)

Synonyms:
1. malingerer, dodger, laggard.

slack

1  [slak]
–adjective
1. not tight, taut, firm, or tense; loose: a slack rope.
2. negligent; careless; remiss: slack proofreading.
3. slow, sluggish, or indolent: He is slack in answering letters.
4. not active or busy; dull; not brisk: the slack season in an industry.
5. moving very slowly, as the tide, wind, or water.
6. weak; lax.
7. Nautical. easy (def. 15a).
–adverb
8. in a slack manner.
–noun
9. a slack condition or part.
10. the part of a rope, sail, or the like, that hangs loose, without strain upon it.
11. a decrease in activity, as in business or work: a sudden slack in output.
12. a period of decreased activity.
13. Geography. a cessation in a strong flow, as of a current at its turn.
14. a depression between hills, in a hillside, or in the land surface.
15. Prosody. (in sprung rhythm) the unaccented syllable or syllables.
16. British Dialect. a morass; marshy ground; a hollow or dell with soft, wet ground at the bottom.
–verb (used with object)
17. to be remiss in respect to (some matter, duty, right, etc.); shirk; leave undone: He slacked the most important part.
18. to make or allow to become less active, vigorous, intense, etc.; relax (efforts, labor, speed, etc.); lessen; moderate (often fol. by up).
19. to make loose, or less tense or taut, as a rope; loosen (often fol. by off or out).
20. to slake (lime).
–verb (used without object)
21. to be remiss; shirk one's duty or part.
22. to become less active, vigorous, rapid, etc. (often fol. by up): Business is slacking up.
23. to become less tense or taut, as a rope; to ease off.
24. to become slaked, as lime.
—Idiom
25. take up the slack,
a. to pull in or make taut a loose section of a rope, line, wire, etc.: Take up the slack before releasing the kite.
b. to provide or compensate for something that is missing or incomplete: New sources of oil will take up the slack resulting from the embargo.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME slac (adj.), OE sleac, slæc; c. ON slakr, OHG slach, L laxus lax

Related forms:
slack⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
slackly, adverb
slackness, noun

Synonyms:
1. relaxed. 2. lazy, weak. 3. dilatory, tardy, late. 4. idle, quiet. 11. slowing, relaxation. 17. neglect. 18. reduce, slacken. 21. malinger.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To slacker
slack 1   (slāk)   
adj.   slack·er, slack·est

  1. Moving slowly; sluggish: a slack pace.

  2. Lacking in activity; not busy: a slack season for the travel business.

  3. Not tense or taut; loose: a slack rope; slack muscles. See Synonyms at loose.

  4. Lacking firmness; flaccid: a slack grip.

  5. Lacking in diligence or due care or concern; negligent: a slack worker. See Synonyms at negligent.

  6. Flowing or blowing with little speed: a slack current; slack winds.

  7. Linguistics Pronounced with the muscles of the tongue and jaw relatively relaxed; lax.

v.   slacked, slack·ing, slacks

v.   tr.

  1. To make slower or looser; slacken.

  2. To be careless or remiss in doing: slack one's duty.

  3. To slake (lime).

v.   intr.

  1. To be or become slack.

  2. To evade work; shirk.

n.  

  1. A loose part, as of a rope or sail.

  2. A lack of tension; looseness.

  3. A period of little activity; a lull.

    1. A cessation of movement in a current of air or water.

    2. An area of still water.

  5. Unused capacity: still some slack in the economy.

  6. slacks Casual trousers that are not part of a suit.

adv.  In a slack manner: a banner hanging slack.
Phrasal Verb(s):
slack offTo decrease in activity or intensity.

Idiom(s):
cut/give (someone) some slackSlang To make an allowance for (someone), as in allowing more time to finish something.

[Middle English slak, from Old English slæc; see slēg- in Indo-European roots.]
slack'ly adv., slack'ness n.
slack·er   (slāk'ər)   
n.  

  1. One who shirks work or responsibility: "In terms of their outlook on the future, slackers regard tomorrow with a studied cynicism or . . . don't even conceive of one" (Julie Caniglia).

  2. One who tries to evade military service in wartime; a draft dodger.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

slack  (n.)
1794, "loose part or end" (of a rope, sail, etc.), from slack (adj.); hense fig. senses in take up the slack (1930) and slang cut (someone) some slack (1968). Meaning "quiet period, lull" is from 1851. Slacks "loose trousers" first recorded 1824, originally military.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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