SHIFTLESSNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shiftlessness mean? 

• SHIFTLESSNESS (noun)
  The noun SHIFTLESSNESS has 1 sense:

1. a failure to be active as a consequence of lack of initiative or ambition

  Familiarity information: SHIFTLESSNESS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHIFTLESSNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A failure to be active as a consequence of lack of initiative or ambition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("shiftlessness" is a kind of...):

indolence; laziness (inactivity resulting from a dislike of work)

Derivation:

shiftless (lacking or characterized by lack of ambition or initiative; lazy)

 Context examples 

"I told that boy about the ice." Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. "These people! You have to keep after them all the time."

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)