Etymograph

English

slouch

Slouch may come from Middle English slugge ‘lazy person’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500slugge1‘lazy person’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1896slouch1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English slouch
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, Duncan Campbell Scott, In the Village of Viger: “[…] then he slouched his head down on the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sluggeWiktionary, English slouch‘lazy person’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1896slouchWiktionary, English slouch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, Duncan Campbell Scott, In the Village of Viger: “[…] then he slouched his head down on the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *slakaz ‘weak, lazy’

slack, slake

through Middle English slugge ‘lazy person’

slug, sludge

Today it means

noun A hanging down of the head; a drooping posture; a limp appearance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “slouch”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English slugge / slouch

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