todger dodger

9.9

A person who avoids work or duties by making excuses

noun

Offensive

: escaqueador

He’s become known as the office todger dodger, always finding ways to avoid extra work.

Examples

You can't be a todger dodger forever if you want to keep your job.
Nobody trusts a todger dodger to help when needed.
Don't be such a todger dodger!
I can't stand that todger dodger at work.
He’s become known as the office todger dodger, always finding ways to avoid extra work.
Nobody trusts a todger dodger to help when needed.
You can't be a todger dodger forever if you want to keep your job.

Synonyms

slacker

vstodger dodger

Offensive

33 4.6

A person who avoids work and often does very little

is more informal and points to excuse making and active evasion

dodger

vstodger dodger

20 7.9

A person who avoids duties and rules by lying or tricking others

is more informal and broadly about evading responsibilities

do-nothing

vstodger dodger

Offensive

9 7.0

A person who avoids work and makes little effort

is informal and stresses excuse-driven or deliberate evasion

procrastinator

vstodger dodger

8 4.6

A person who often puts off work until the last minute

is informal and centers on excuse use and deliberate evasion

loafer

vstodger dodger

Offensive

5 5.8

A person who avoids work and does very little

is informal and centers on active evasion and excuse use

malingerer

vstodger dodger

Formal

2 8.9

A person who pretends to be ill to avoid work

is broader and includes many excuse types beyond feigned sickness

goof-off

vstodger dodger

Informal

2 8.6

A person who avoids work and wastes time

is informal and focuses on excuse-based avoidance or evasion

avoider

vstodger dodger

1 4.6

A person who stays away from conflict or difficult talks

is informal and focuses more on making excuses to evade tasks

shirker

vstodger dodger

1 8.0

A person who avoids work or responsibility, often by making excuses

is informal and highlights excuse making or evasion specifically

goldbricker

vstodger dodger

Offensive

1 9.9

A person who avoids work by pretending to be busy

is more informal and stresses general avoidance and evasion

goldbrick

vstodger dodger

Offensive

1 9.6

A person who avoids work by pretending to be busy

is a casual term focusing on excuse making and evasion

artful dodger

vstodger dodger

1 8.5

A person who uses tricks to avoid work or blame

is informal but less about clever trickery and more general evasion

evader

vstodger dodger

1 5.5

A person who avoids something by clever indirect actions

focuses more on casual excuse making rather than clever escape tactics

bludger

vstodger dodger

Offensive

1 9.9

A person who avoids work and does very little

is informal too but stresses excuse-driven or deliberate evasion

staller

vstodger dodger

1 7.9

A person who delays making decisions on purpose

is informal and stresses active excuse making rather than delay only

dawdler

vstodger dodger

1 7.1

A person who moves slowly and wastes time

is informal and focuses on active excuse making to avoid duties

dallier

vstodger dodger

1 9.5

A person who wastes time and does not make decisions or take action

is informal and highlights excuse-driven or active evasion specifically

skulker

vstodger dodger

9.1

A person who avoids work by pretending to be ill

is an informal label covering wider excuse or evasion tactics

ditcher

vstodger dodger

Informal

7.2

A person who often misses school or work on purpose

is a casual term covering avoidance by excuses or indirect evasion

flaker

vstodger dodger

Offensive

8.4

A person who often cancels plans or fails to show up

is about general avoidance including making excuses to evade tasks

postponer

vstodger dodger

Offensive

8.4

A person who often delays tasks until the last minute

is an informal label emphasizing excuse-based avoidance or evasion

scrimshanker

vstodger dodger

Offensive

9.9

A person who avoids work

is informal and stresses excuse making and indirect evasion

Antonyms

responsible

973 2.4

In charge of someone or something and must take care of it

doer

40 3.5

A person who takes action to finish tasks

How Responsible

todger dodger

Offensive

9.9

deadbeat

Offensive

48 7.6

Surface Forms

todger dodger singular

todger dodgers plural

Morphology

todger + dodger

The element 'dodger' directly signals an avoider of obligations, and the rhyming reduplication with 'todger' (a pejorative for a foolish/bothersome person) pragmatically yields an informal, emphatic term for someone who shirks responsibilities. Because the meaning is derivable from the constituents but produced by a playful/slangy formation rather than a regular compositional pattern, a B1 learner who knows both words could infer the sense but not with full certainty.

Etymology

Todger dodger may come from a playful rhyming name where dodger (someone who dodges) is joined with a silly partner todger to make the phrase catchy. That's why the image of a person always dodging work helps us remember it means 'a person who avoids responsibilities'.