How exactly do you say lazy in Italian?
In this lesson, we will take a look at the different words you can use to talk about being lazy in Italian. Read on to learn all you need to know!
Lazy
Pigro
Let’s get started! Iniziamo!
Lazy in Italian
Pigro
Pigro is how you translate lazy into Italian. Let’s hear how this adjective is pronounced.
Its pronunciation is similar to pee-grow and it comes from the Latin word piger, “slow”. Make sure the final -o has a clean sound, because Italian vowel sounds are clean!
Pigro
Lazy
Like all other adjectives in Italian, pigro needs to match the gender and number of the noun.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | Pigro | Pigri |
| Feminine | Pigra | Pigre |
If a man is lazy, you will say pigro because man, uomo, is a masculine noun in Italian.
Likewise, if you’re talking about a woman, donna, which is a feminine noun, you will say pigra.
Plural nouns behave the same way: if you want to describe a group of lazy men (masculine plural), use pigri. If you’re talking about lazy women (feminine plural), use pigre instead.
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For example, you could say…
Le mie sorelline sono un po’ pigre.
My little sisters are a bit lazy.
Tom non è assolutamente stupido. È solo pigro.
Tom is definitely not stupid. He’s just lazy.
Questi studenti sono molto pigri.
These students are very lazy.
Leonardo è pigro e viziato.
Leonardo is lazy and spoiled.
Other translations for lazy in Italian
There are a number of synonyms you can use instead of pigro. The most common are…
Scansafatiche
Slacker, loafer
(From scansare + fatiche, literally “one who dodges efforts”)
Fannullone
Slacker, loafer
(Derived from non fare nulla, “to do nothing”)
Pelandrone
Slacker, loafer
For example, you could say…
Matteo è proprio un pelandrone. Dorme fino a mezzogiorno!
Matteo is such a slacker. He sleeps until noon!
I ragazzi di oggi non sono fannulloni. Pretendono solo i loro diritti.
Today’s youth is not lazy. They only claim their rights.
Muoviti, scansafatiche!
Move it, you slacker!
We can also describe a lazy person as essere nato stanco, which literally means “to be born tired”.
Other things that are said to be lazy in Italian are…
- intestino pigro (lazy bowel)
- occhio pigro (lazy eye)
For example, you could say…
Ho l’intestino molto pigro. Mangio due kiwi al giorno.
I have a very lazy bowel. I eat two kiwis a day.
Mio figlio dovrà indossare una benda sull’occhio pigro.
My son will have to wear a patch over his lazy eye.
And that’s the end of our lesson on how to say lazy in Italian!
What next?
Now that you’ve seen how to say lazy in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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