Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus in dictionary form p. 498 defines lazy as: inactive, sluggish, apathetic, idle and neglectful among other descriptions. It’s easy to see something that needs to be done and label someone lazy for not doing it. That however, doesn’t really define a lazy person. To label someone lazy you have to look at the whole of the person and see if they possess certain traits, and whether they posses these traits consistently.

Making excuses
A lazy person will put off today what can be done tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes they will put it off till the next day, and so on and so forth. They will turn a blind eye to that which requires their attention in order to get out of tending to it, and they’ll come up with every excuse in the book for why now, isn’t a good time.

I can’t do it now, it’s raining. It’s to late now; I’ll have to do it tomorrow. I’m too tall. I’m too short. I’m to whatever the excuse may be. Every reason under the sun except the truth; “I’m too lazy.” If you know someone who constantly makes excuses for why things don’t get done, they’re lazy.

Taking shortcuts
Another trait of laziness is taking the short cut whenever possible. Cheating on exams rather than studying and passing them on their own merits. Stealing someone else’s words rather than doing the research and coming up with their own, also know as plagiarism. Taking someone else’s ideas, and using them to climb the corporate ladder rather than earning the position on their own ability. If an individual takes the easy way out instead of toughing it out, they’re lazy.

Passing the buck
Leaving it for the next shift to clean up, letting someone else discipline the kids, ignoring the phone when it rings because their too lazy to get up and answer it, letting the neighbor shovel the walkway instead of doing it themselves or at the very least helping; these are a few examples of passing the buck. In a nut shell, if a person is more than able to do something and chooses to, instead, leave it for someone else, they’re lazy.

Outright slothfulness
Are the dishes in your friend’s sink stacked to the ceiling? Is it impossible to see where their coffee table ends and the mountain of empty cups, faded, old newspapers and crumpled up napkins begins? Are their more dirty clothes on their bedroom floor than clean ones in their bureau? Do their plants look like fossilized shrubbery because they haven’t been watered in months? If someone’s world is riddled with neglected things and chores, they’re lazy.

We all experience those times when we just don’t feel like doing it or going there or picking this up and putting that away. That’s part of being human, and we’re all entitled to a day of laziness now and then. But, if these times of laziness are a way of life for a person, you can safely label them “Lazy.”