τεμπέλης
“τεμπέλης” (tembélis) — lazy in Greek. Adjective, level A2, topic — people and family. from Turkish tembel. The feminine form is tembéla. In a live sentence: “Είναι τεμπέλης το πρωί” — He is lazy in the mornings. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters τ, ε, μ, π, λ, η. One of 134 words in the set “people and family” in the Greek course.
In short
| Written in Greek | τεμπέλης |
| Read in Latin letters | tembélis |
| Translation | lazy |
| Part of speech | adjective |
| Level | A2 |
- τεμπέληςtembélislazy
Why it looks that way
from Turkish tembel. The feminine form is tembéla
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Είναι τεμπέλης το πρωίíne tembélis to proíHe is lazy in the mornings
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- φίλοςfílosfriendthe root behind 'philo-': philosophía is the love of wisdom. A female friend is fíli, friends are fíli
- οικογένειαikoyéniafamilythe initial oi reads ee, and gamma before e sounds almost like y: ee-ko-YE-nya. Literally 'household kin', from óikos, house
- μαμάmamámomstress at the end: ma-MA. The bookish 'mother' is mitéra — the root of 'metropolis'
- μπαμπάςbabásdadμπ at the start is b, in the middle m-b: ba-BAS. The bookish father is patéras
- παιδίpedíchildαι reads e: pe-DEE. The root of 'pedagogue' — literally the one who leads the child
- το άτομοto átomopersonin counting people: ya dío átoma — for two. The same word as atom
- ο άντραςo ándrasmanthe same word means 'husband'. The bookish form anír is the root of 'andro-'
- η γυναίκαi yinékawomanthe same word means 'wife'. The root of 'gynecology'
- ο νέοςo néosyoung manliterally 'young'. In the plural, i néi — the youth
- η κοπέλαi kopélagirlconversational and very frequent; the bookish nearí sounds official
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “lazy” in Greek?
from Turkish tembel. The feminine form is tembéla
- How do you say “man” in Greek?
the same word means 'husband'. The bookish form anír is the root of 'andro-'
- How do you say “mom” in Greek?
stress at the end: ma-MA. The bookish 'mother' is mitéra — the root of 'metropolis'
- How do you say “girl” in Greek?
conversational and very frequent; the bookish nearí sounds official
- How do you say “person” in Greek?
in counting people: ya dío átoma — for two. The same word as atom
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “lazy” in Greek?
«τεμπέλης», read “tembélis”. In a live sentence: “Είναι τεμπέλης το πρωί” — He is lazy in the mornings. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adjective, level A2, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters τ, ε, μ, π, λ, η.
How is “τεμπέλης” written in Latin letters?
tembélis. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
from Turkish tembel. The feminine form is tembéla. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.