slouch
English
Etymology
From Old Norse slókr (“a slouching, lazy fellow”)[1], (cognate to Swedish sloka, to wilt, slouch.
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -aʊtʃ
Noun
slouch (plural slouches)
- A hanging down of the head; a drooping posture; a limp appearance
- He sat with an unenthusiastic slouch.
- Any depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim.
- The plant hung in a permanent slouch.
- Someone who is slow to act.
- 2014, Ian Jack, "Is this the end of Britishness", The Guardian, 16 September 2014:
- In any case, Scotland has been no slouch at national invention. The Greek temple to commemorate James Thomson wasn’t the only monument raised by the 11th Earl of Buchan, who was a friend and neighbour of Walter Scott, and as great a romancer in his obsession with ruins, battlements and fancy dress.
- 2014, Ian Jack, "Is this the end of Britishness", The Guardian, 16 September 2014:
- (dated) An awkward, heavy, clownish fellow.
Derived terms
Translations
hanging down of the head, a drooping posture; limp appearance
any depression or hanging down
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Verb
slouch (third-person singular simple present slouches, present participle slouching, simple past and past participle slouched)
- (intransitive) To hang or droop; to adopt a limp posture
- Do not slouch when playing a flute.
- (intransitive) To walk in a clumsy, lazy manner.
- I slouched to the fridge to see if there was anything to eat.
- (transitive) To cause to hang down or droop; to depress.
- 1896, Duncan Campbell Scott, In the Village of Viger (page 107)
- […] then he slouched his head down on the table and pretended to sleep.
- 2012, Kim Vogel Sawyer, When Hope Blossoms (page 281)
- Disappointment slouched him into the pew.
- 1896, Duncan Campbell Scott, In the Village of Viger (page 107)
References
- “slouch” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
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