Chinese phrases
How to say lazy in Chinese
Lazy in Chinese is 懒 (lǎn). To say you can’t be bothered to do something, put 懒得 (lǎn de) before the verb: 懒得做饭, “can’t be bothered to cook.”
懒
lazy
Ways to say lazy
懒
Everydaylazy
The plain word. 我好懒 is “I’m so lazy,” often a light joke about yourself.
懒得
Everydaycan’t be bothered to
The everyday way to say “too lazy to.” The verb comes after it: 懒得出门, 懒得说.
偷懒
Everydayto slack off
When you skip work you should do. A boss or a parent says 别偷懒, “no slacking.”
睡懒觉
Everydayto sleep in
Not an insult: 周末睡个懒觉 is a small weekend treat.
懒虫
With friendslazybones
A fond tease. A parent wakes a child with 小懒虫，起床了.
懒洋洋
Everydaylazily; sluggish
For a slow, sleepy mood: a cat in the sun, a long afternoon.
懒人
Everydaylazy person; easy
In product names it means “easy”: 懒人沙发 is a beanbag, 懒人食谱 an easy recipe.
Common mistakes
Saying 太懒 before a verb
For “too lazy to cook,” say 我懒得做饭, or 我太懒了，不想做饭. 太懒 can’t take a verb after it.
Saying 懒得理你 to the wrong person
懒得理你 means “I can’t be bothered with you.” Between friends it is a tease; to anyone else it is rude.
A cold weekend
周末干什么了？
Liangliang: What did you do at the weekend?
什么都没干，睡了个懒觉。
Leon: Nothing. I slept in.
我还想叫你去爬山呢。
Liangliang: I wanted to ask you to go hiking.
太冷了，懒得出门。
Leon: Too cold. I couldn’t be bothered to go out.
