Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective lackadaisical differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of lackadaisical are languid, languorous, listless, and spiritless. While all these words mean "lacking energy or enthusiasm," lackadaisical implies a carefree indifference marked by half-hearted efforts.

lackadaisical college seniors pretending to study

Where would languid be a reasonable alternative to lackadaisical?

The meanings of languid and lackadaisical largely overlap; however, languid refers to an unwillingness or inability to exert oneself due to fatigue or physical weakness.

was depressed and languid for weeks after surgery

In what contexts can languorous take the place of lackadaisical?

Although the words languorous and lackadaisical have much in common, languorous suggests a dreamy boredom and delicacy that avoids unnecessary activity.

languorous cats lying in the sun

When is listless a more appropriate choice than lackadaisical?

While the synonyms listless and lackadaisical are close in meaning, listless suggests a lack of interest caused by physical weakness or dissatisfied boredom.

listless hospital patients
listless children flipping through picture books on a rainy day

When could spiritless be used to replace lackadaisical?

While in some cases nearly identical to lackadaisical, spiritless refers to a lack of animation or vigor that gives one's actions and words life.

a spiritless recital of the poem

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lackadaisical Again, the lackadaisical approach doesn’t work for everyone. Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 18 Oct. 2024 There is no skipping steps, no forgiving young players for lackadaisical plays simply because of their lack of experience. Mat Issa, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024 The sun had other ideas, and Ramos’ lackadaisical base running prevented him from taking third when the ball got past Fernando Tatis Jr. Consistently impressed with the daily effort from the 25-year-old first-time All-Star, Melvin was hesitant to even say anything. Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 17 Sep. 2024 And the lack of a clear strategy led to a lackadaisical response to Russia’s cyberattacks and its unprecedented interference in the 2016 election. Tim Kaine, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2017 See all Example Sentences for lackadaisical 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lackadaisical
Adjective
  • By the time the prosecution presented another version of the Vasquez video, broken into fourteen hundred and sixty-five frames, on PowerPoint slides, which show Penny and Neely’s struggle even more clearly, the jurors had begun to resemble listless schoolchildren.
    Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
  • Looking listless from the opening, the Sharks allowed five goals in the first period and never recovered in an unsightly 8-1 loss to the Lightning at Amalie Arena.
    Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 5 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • The same tired thoughts, predictable excuses, and familiar limiting beliefs play on repeat in your mind, keeping you stuck in patterns that don't serve your growth.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
  • Somehow, some way, fans aren’t tired of him despite the fact his flow and production choices haven’t changed much.
    Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • That’s why a noirish tenor sax snakes through the suite’s middle (played with languorous sensuality by PRISM Quartet’s Timothy McAllister), set to a lyre-like harp accompaniment.
    Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 9 Nov. 2024
  • The rhymed verse the characters speak in doesn’t at all hinder them from expressing themselves colloquially, in idioms that sound better with a languorous Southern lilt.
    Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2024
Adjective
  • Dance sections lacked charm; lyric passages were spiritless; the klezmer episodes in the third movement were strictly goyish.
    Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
  • Yet the club dropped the contest in spiritless fashion, 6-2.
    Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Aug. 2023
Adjective
  • No 1 Jordan), who made his debut for the under-21s in April as a 17-year-old, and Harrison Armstrong, a languid, skilful midfielder who started for the club’s second-string in February a month after turning 17.
    Patrick Boyland, The Athletic, 11 July 2024
  • Hotelier Oscar Cubillo Blasco and his partner, Gigi de Vidal, left careers in Madrid for 250-year-old town house in the former Lanzarote capital of Teguise (also home to the lovely nine-room Palacio Ico boutique and now the charming center of the languid island).
    Toby Skinner, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Nov. 2024
Adjective
  • Isolated and exhausted, the mother is frustrated, and miserable.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2024
  • Coming into the new year exhausted and disengaged won’t set the stage for career success.
    Elizabeth Pearson, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Scene-to-scene continuity is typically weak and telling.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Capasa noted that a negative third quarter impacted by weak internal demand, the slowdown of purchases from Chinese customers and overall geopolitical instability kept worsening the cautious scenario already registered in the first half of the year.
    Sandra Salibian, WWD, 11 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • The trio is tasked with completing magical tasks in order to earn a place back in their sleepy Massachusetts town.
    Annabel Gutterman, TIME, 6 Dec. 2024
  • And that has a lot to do with nourishing your soul and staying in a place of curiosity and not sleepy.
    Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Lackadaisical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lackadaisical. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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