slouch

Etymology

Unclear. Perhaps from Middle English slugge, from Old Norse slókr (“lazy fellow”). See also Swedish sloka (“to slouch, wilt”), related to Swedish slak (“slack, soft and flexible”) and Latin laxus (“loose, slack”).

noun

1. A hanging down of the head; a drooping posture; a limp appearance
   He sat with an unenthusiastic slouch.
2. Any depression or hanging down, as of a hat brim.
   The plant hung in a permanent slouch.
3. Someone who is slow to act.
   In any case, Scotland has been no slouch at national invention. The Greek temple to commemorate James Thomson wasn’t the only monument raised by the 11th Earl of Buchan, who was a friend and neighbour of Walter Scott, and as great a romancer in his obsession with ruins, battlements and fancy dress. 16 September 2014, Ian Jack, “Is this the end of Britishness”, in The Guardian
4. (dated) An awkward, heavy, clownish fellow.

verb

1. (intransitive) To hang or droop; to adopt a limp posture
   Do not slouch when playing a flute.
2. (intransitive) To walk in a clumsy, lazy manner.
   I slouched to the fridge to see if there was anything to eat.
3. (transitive) To cause to hang down or droop; to depress.
   […] then he slouched his head down on the table and pretended to sleep. 1896, Duncan Campbell Scott, In the Village of Viger, page 107
   Disappointment slouched him into the pew. 2012, Kim Vogel Sawyer, When Hope Blossoms, page 281