Definition of Shiftless

1. Adjective. Lacking or characterized by lack of ambition or initiative; lazy. "Studied in a shiftless way"

Similar to: Ambitionless, Unambitious
Derivative terms: Shiftlessness

Definition of Shiftless

1. a. Destitute of expedients, or not using successful expedients; characterized by failure, especially by failure to provide for one's own support, through negligence or incapacity; hence, lazy; improvident; thriftless; as, a shiftless fellow; shiftless management.

Definition of Shiftless

1. Adjective. lazy, unmotivated ¹

2. Adjective. untrustworthy as a result of being incompetent at the job ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Shiftless

1. [adj]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Shiftless

shifters
shiftful
shiftier
shiftiest
shiftily
shiftiness
shiftinesses
shifting
shifting cultivation
shifting dullness
shifting executory interest
shifting executory interests
shifting pacemaker
shiftingly
shiftings
shiftless
shiftlessly
shiftlessness
shiftlessnesses
shiftlike
shiftmate
shiftmates
shifts
shiftwork
shifty
shiftyness
shigaite
shigella
shigella boydii
shigella dysenteriae

Literary usage of Shiftless

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1899)
"(This " shiftless " class forms 18 % of the number who pay their rent.) lumi. ... "shiftless" CUM ( CMM 38, 42, 43 ), " slovenly ' and unkempt in person,'' ..."

2. Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske (1898)
"Although he was without vices, the shiftless management of his pecuniary affairs brought him into many difficulties, but he left a library of more than ..."

3. Thirty Years of Labor. 1859-1889: In which the History of the Attempts to by Terence Vincent Powderly (1889)
"... are—The industrious at the mercy of the lazy and shiftless— Conditions must be equalized before an income tax can be collected—The greed of corporations ..."

4. Abraham Lincoln and the Downfall of American Slavery by Noah Brooks (1894)
"Taylor—Return to Springfield—The Boys of Lincoln—A Shiftless Relative. IT was said of Lincoln that he was a born politician and that, as a political prophet ..."

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