5 ways to say “Lazy” in Spanish

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spanish for lazy

How do you call someone lazy in Spanish?

Everyone knows someone that is just not very motivated. So how do you tell someone that they are being lazy in Spanish? In this article, we will walk you through the most common way to call someone lazy, and a few Spanish slang terms for “lazy”.

“You are lazy” in Spanish

  • Eres perezosa (feminine)
  • Eres perezoso (masculine)

Contextual example:

  • Mis amigos son bastante perezosos
  • My friends are very lazy

The plural form of lazy in Spanish is perezosos or perezosas. In the example above, perezosos is used, so we can assume that the group of friends that is being described as lazy is all male friends, or a group that contains both male and female friends. If the group is entirely composed of female couch potatoes, you would substitute in the female forms (“mis amigas son bastante perezosas”).

lazy in spanish

Notice that in the examples above you are using “eres” and “son”, the conjugated forms of the verb “ser”, to call someone lazy. This is because you are classifying a personality trait of this person that is considered permanent. In other words, you are saying “you ARE lazy” (you are a lazy person), not that they are just being lazy in this particular moment. You could theoretically use the conjugated form of the verb “estar” if you wanted to soften this message a bit and tell someone that they are just being lazy NOW – but not that you necessarily think this is a permanent character flaw.

This vocabulary comes particularly in handy if you are studying abroad in a foreign exchange program, and are paired up for a group project with someone that is just not pulling their weight.

Spanish slang for lazy

  • Flojo: this is another slang term for lazy that is more common in peninsular Spanish (Spain)
  • Holgazán: this word has the connotation of being a procrastinator. It’s a bit more playful, and could be considered the Spanish equivalent of “lazy bones”.
  • Vago: this is basically how you would call someone a “couch potato” in Spanish.
  • Huevón: this is another (more impolite) way of calling someone lazy in Spanish, from our list of 150 vulgar Spanish curse words and insults. This has the connotation of being a total slacker or bum.

For some more amusing context, check out this usage of the Spanish word for lazy in our list of funny Spanish puns.

“Qué hace el pez perezoso? ¡Nada!”
“What does the lazy fish do? Nothing!”

(Nada has a double meaning in Spanish. It can mean “nothing”, but it can also be a conjugation of the verb “nadar”, or “to swim”. So it can mean that the lazy fish is swimming, or doing nothing.)

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