Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One who is habitually idle: disliked loafers on the job.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An idle man, lounger, or aimless stroller, of whatever social condition; specifically, one who is too lazy to work or pursue regular business, and lounges about, depending upon chance or disreputable means for subsistence.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One who loafs; a lazy lounger.
- n. A type of shoe without laces which can be easily slipped on or off; -- originally a trademark.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a low leather step-in shoe; the top resembles a moccasin but it has a broad flat heel
- n. person who does no work
Etymologies
- Perhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer [Cf Dial Ger loofen "to run"]; or connected to Middle English lo(o)ve, lo(o)ffinge "a remnant, the rest, that which remains or lingers" from Old English lāf ("remainder, residue, what is left"). Akin to Scots lave "the rest, remainder", Old English lǣfan "to leave behind". More at leave (Wiktionary)
- Short for obsolete land-loafer, vagabond, idler, possibly partial translation of obsolete German Landläufer, from Middle High German landlöufer : land, land + löufer, runner (from loufen, to run, from Old High German hlouffan). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“After eight years of the so-called K Street Project — the effort by Republican lawmakers and operatives to pressure companies, trade associations and lobbying firms to hire their fellow Republicans — the tasseled loafer is on the other foot.”
“Just as FrenchCanadian has borrowed Americanisms that are loan-words from other immigrant tongues, e. g., bum and loafer from the German, so some of the South American dialects have borrowed rapidas (= rapids), and kimono, the first brought into American from the French and the second from the Japanese.”
“Also wot you call loafer: 'e do not work wen' e wish not to.”
The Best Short Stories of 1915 And the Yearbook of the American Short Story
“Propped against the wall on a thin Italian loafer, he was black and hadn’t said anything except to introduce himself.”
“Generally known as a loafer, suspected of boosting for so-called 'wire-tappers' operating on upper West Side last spring.”
“Reformer, for a loafer was my detestation, and behold!”
“In the larrikin he will not be able to discover a new species, but only an old one met elsewhere, and variously called loafer, rough, tough, bummer, or blatherskite, according to his geographical distribution.”
“Near the hotel there was always a kind of loafer who accosted travellers, and who would not refuse.”
“I have said nothing of that unnatural specimen of humanity, sometimes called a "loafer," and by still more ignoble names, who, to use a vulgar term, "grubs" on his parents, drinks what he earns and befouls the home he robs, with his loathsome presence and scandalous living.”
Explanation of Catholic Morals A Concise, Reasoned, and Popular Exposition of Catholic Morals
“i like mepali's, layman, and respose's analysis about bbt. if 3 panel judge give their annonymous verdict that bbt is loafer, that is agreeable. i haven't seen a single piece of written work by bbt so far. that proves how gobar ganesh he is.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘loafer’.
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Yazhinni Spelling bee
tongue, stallion, scruple, salinity, schedule, rouge, populist, Permian, perspire, pasteurize, multitude, mournful and 227 more...
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people (bad)
nouns for bad people / words that describe bad people.
goto the good people list
( people, character, descriptor, noun )culprit, perpetrator, tormentor, swindler, bamboozler, nincompoop, thief, liar, back stabber, vandal, burglar, cheater and 85 more...
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ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2415 more... -
~~Olde-Fashioned Insults~~
ragamuffin, muttonchops, tatterdemalion, nincompoop, whippersnapper, bootlicker, backscratcher, loggerhead, weisenheimer, hornswoggler, thimblerigger, quacksalver and 111 more...
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EN - funny (single) words
"Fornication" is not equal to "formication".
Words with funny meaning, spelling or both.biffy, bibcock, barratry, bastinado, bezonian, bibliobibuli, bodewash, boeotian, boondoggle, borborygmic, bosky, brobdingnagian and 729 more...
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w8f's Words
chortle, shad, escapology, gonad, suspicious, brusque, shriek, panoply, vista, grizzly, gristle, grist and 48 more...
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sartorial splendor
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
-Mark Twainapplique, ascot, brogue, dressing gown, frippery, gusset, grommet, placket, silhouette, whipstitch, appliqué, baste and 59 more...
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Noun
Third position in adj 'young' noun band names formula
townsfolk, groomsmen, ascetic, loafer, stocking-stuffer, mortician, tourist, privateer, stag, domino-stacker, codger, linguist and 19 more...
Tweets
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