サボる
さぼる
godan verb
to skip; to slack off; to play hooky
1.
to skip; to cut (class/work)
To intentionally miss school, work, or an obligation.
授業をサボった。
I skipped class.
今日は会社をサボりたい。
I want to skip work today.
部活をサボって映画を見に行った。
I skipped club activities and went to see a movie.
2.
to slack off; to shirk
To avoid doing one's duties or to do them half-heartedly.
仕事をサボるな。
Don't slack off on your work.
掃除をサボっている。
I'm slacking off on cleaning.
練習をサボったら上達しない。
If you slack off on practice, you won't improve.
サボる comes from the French word "sabotage" (サボタージュ) and was coined in the early 20th century. It's a quintessential example of a Japanese verb formed from a loanword.
REGISTER:
This is a colloquial word widely used in casual speech. While understood everywhere, it's not appropriate for formal contexts.
COMMON PATTERNS:
- ～をサボる: to skip/slack off on something
- サボり癖: a habit of slacking off
ASPECT ({ている}):
サボっている indicates an ongoing state of slacking off or repeatedly skipping.