Is there a single word for someone who only spends time doing things they like, and shirk their important duties? I am trying to describe Mr. Frederick from Animal Farm, who had "a large, neglected, old-fashioned farm, much overgrown by woodland, with all is pastures worn out and its hedges in a disgraceful condition." It is implied that the farm has gone to such a state because he "spent most of his time in fishing or hunting". I can't think of the right word to describe this, and I'm not even positive there is one. I also want something that emphasizes doing something you enjoy in place of work that needs to get done.
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A foot dragger.... – Lambie Apr 12 '21 at 14:28
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Does this answer your question? Word to describe someone who does whatever they please? or A word for “negligence of duty or responsibility”. – Joachim Apr 12 '21 at 14:32
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A 'hedonist', perhaps.
Although widely understood to mean embracing a lifestyle of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll ("Folk Hedonsim"), Hedonism formally holds that pleasure and pain are the only things of ultimate importance and a range of behaviours can be called hedonistic.
Dan
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Georgia,
If you mean someone who only does what they enjoy in the sense of indulgence, then you could call such a person a hedonist.
If you mean someone who only does what they enjoy in the sense that he or she avoids work, then there are several idiomatic expressions you can use. Such as goldbricker, shirker, malingerer, slugabed, spinebasher, loafer. Note that these each come with a slightly different connotation for how the subject avoids work: makes excuses, pretends to do work while in fact doing none, fakes sick, stays late in bed. All suggest supreme laziness.
Kyle
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