holgazán

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Andalusian Arabic, from Arabic كَسْلَان (kaslān, “lazy”), and influenced by holgar. Compare Galician lacazán.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /olɡaˈθan/ [ol.ɣ̞aˈθãn]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /olɡaˈsan/ [ol.ɣ̞aˈsãn]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: hol‧ga‧zán

Adjective

holgazán (feminine holgazana, masculine plural holgazanes, feminine plural holgazanas)

1. loafing

   Synonyms: flojo, gandul, tunante

Noun

holgazán m (plural holgazanes, feminine holgazana, feminine plural holgazanas)

1. loafer, sluggard, lazybones, slacker, idler

   Synonyms: gandul, tunante, vago

   • 2017 March 26, Elvira Lindo, “Buenistas sin fronteras”, in El País‎^[1]:

     El buenista no piensa que la religión católica esté amenazada y no entiende la ira de quienes la defienden, pero es que el buenista es un holgazán, un cobardica, un irresponsable que permitirá que el islam nos invada antes de apretar el gatillo.

     The do-gooder doesn't think that the Catholic religion is threatened and does not understand the anger of those who defend it, but the do-gooder is a loafer, a coward, an irresponsible person who will allow Islam to invade us before pulling the trigger.

2. deadbeat, layabout

Related terms

• holgado
• holgar
• holgazanear
• holgazanería

 

Further reading

• “holgazán”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10