ものぐさ

も

の

ぐ

さ

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

noun, na-adjective

laziness; lazy person

usually written using kana alone

Describes a person who finds things bothersome and avoids effort. Can refer to the trait or a person with that trait. Often used in self-deprecation or mild criticism.

彼かれはものぐさで、部屋へやの掃そう除じをまったくしない。
He is lazy and never cleans his room.
ものぐさな性せい格かくだから、いつも締しめ切きりぎりぎりになる。
Because of my lazy nature, I always end up right at the deadline.

See all 6 example sentences ›

Kanji

物thing, object, matter
臭stinking, ill-smelling, suspicious looking
懶languid, be lazy, be negligent

Related words

怠たい惰だN1
ものぐさ is a casual, everyday word for someone who avoids effort, whereas 怠惰 is a more formal, literary term for laziness as a trait.
無ぶ精しょう
ものぐさ and 無精 both describe a habitual aversion to effort in casual speech, but ものぐさ leans toward describing a person's character trait rather than a specific act of neglect.

Opposites

こまめ
ものぐさ describes someone lazy who avoids small chores, the opposite of 小まめ, which describes attentively doing them.

Written forms

ものぐさUsage71%
Kana spelling is standard; usually written in kana.
懶ものぐさUsage16%
rarely-used kanji form
Single-kanji form meaning laziness; marked as rarely used.
物もの臭ぐさUsage5%
Kanji form using 物 (thing) and 臭 (stink), implying a 'stink of laziness'. Rarely used in modern writing.
物ものぐさUsage5%
search-only kanji form
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; included as a search-only form.
モノグサUsage3%

Etymology

From 物臭, literally describing an aversion to or reluctance toward doing things; it consequently came to denote laziness and a lazy person.