What is an 'abbey-lubber'?
An 'abbey-lubber' is an idle, well-fed dependent or loafer — originally a satirical name for lazy monks. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), human-proofread transcription on English Wikisource records: “( An ). An idle, well-fed dependent or loafer. "It came into a common proverbe to call him an Abbay-lubber , that was idle, wel fed, a long, lewd, lither loiterer, that might worke and would not."— The Burnynge of Paules Church, 1663. It is used also of religions in contempt; see Dryden's Spanish Friar .”
Origin
- Verbatim from Brewer's (1898): ( An ). An idle, well-fed dependent or loafer. "It came into a common proverbe to call him an Abbay-lubber , that was idle, wel fed, a long, lewd, lither loiterer, that might worke and would not."— The Burnynge of Paules Church, 1663. It is used also of religions in contempt; see Dryden's Spanish Friar .
How to use it
- Modern usage: An 'abbey-lubber' is an idle, well-fed dependent or loafer — originally a satirical name for lazy monks.
- When quoting the origin, cite Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — this is a 19th-century record, not a modern etymology.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.