lackadaisical
English
    
WOTD – 24 January 2008
    Alternative forms
    
- lack-a-daisical
Etymology
    
From the archaic expression lackadaisy + -ic + -al.
Pronunciation
    
- IPA(key): /ˌlækəˈdeɪzɪkəl/; IPA(key): /læksə-/ (non-standard)
- Audio (US) - (file) 
- Audio (AUS) - (file) 
Adjective
    
lackadaisical (comparative more lackadaisical, superlative most lackadaisical)
- Showing no interest, vigor, determination, or enthusiasm.
- Synonyms: languid, listless, unenthusiastic, uninterested, lethargic
- the lackadaisical look on his face
 - 1822, William Hazlitt, “On the Disadvantages of Intellectual Superiority”, in Table-Talk, volume II:- I, at one time, used to go and take a hand at cribbage with a friend, and afterwards discuss a cold sirloin of beef, and throw out a few lackadaisical remarks, in a way to please myself, but it would not do long.
 
- 1864, Anthony Trollope, chapter 58, in The Small House at Allington:- "Then let those who do know it learn that you are able to bear such wounds without outward complaint. I tell you fairly that I cannot sympathize with a lackadaisical lover."
 
- 2010, Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest:- I could hear the sound of the janitor's lackadaisical scrubbing against the wooden floor.
 
 
- Lazy; slothful; indolent.
Derived terms
    
Translations
    
showing no interest or enthusiasm
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Further reading
    
- “lackadaisical”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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