Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. an indifferent, second-rate or inefficient thing, place, person etc.

1870		Manchester Jrnl (VT) 21 June 1/7: The yaller dog — is well, to speaak in italics, he is a slouch.
1876		‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer 119: Run away! Well, you would be a nice old slouch of a hermit. You’d be a disgrace.
1880		Hull Packet 25 June 3/1: People played lawn tennis, at which sport [...] she was ‘no slouch’.
1884		G.W. Peck Peck’s Boss Book 9: Madame Modjeska, who is no slouch of an actress.
1891		A. Day Mysterious Beggar 268: The Reverend Jeremiah’s a lame slouch, if he can’t duplicate Jen’s cents with ‘Curbstone Chapel’ Dollars!
1903		A.H. Lewis Boss 375: [He] is quite a flossy form of stock student and a long shot from a slouch.
1903		Yorks Eve. Post 8 Sept. 4/6: Two visitors from the United States [...] emerging from St Paul’s Cathedral [...] ‘That’s no slouch of a church; say, who built it?’.
1913–14		E. O’Neill Recklessness in Ten ‘Lost’ Plays (1995) 135: You know I’m no slouch at driving.
1924		Cornishman 24 Dec. 4/7: An artist who entered [...] to make sketches of men, women, horses [...] must be ‘no slouch’ either with hands and feet.
1928		V. Palmer Passage 21: Oh, I say; that’s no slouch of a fish, Lew!
1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 53: He was nobody’s slouch.
1940		O. Strange Sudden Takes the Trail 55: Ned ain’t no slouch with a six-shooter his own self.
1953		T.A.G. Hungerford Riverslake 38: The Bastard’s no slouch when it comes to a yike!
1960		A. Buzo Front Room Boys Sc. xii: gibbo: Watch him, Pammy. He’s pretty quick on the zipper. pammy: You’re no slouch yourself.
1979		Fantastic Four Annual 54: And Johnny Storm’s no slouch either!
1983		C. Heath A-Team 2 (1984) 23: These guys aren’t slouches.
1999		Guardian Guide 22–28 May 15: I’ve worked with some good looking guys, too. I mean, Ryan [...] is no slouch.
2010		K. Richards Life 57: There were some great British players [...] No slouches.

2. (US black) an eccentric, lazy, unprofessional prostitute.

1972

Anthropological Linguistics 175: terms that are used synonymously include mud-kicker, hold-out, and slouch — each referring to a particular aspect of her behavior and personality.