Etymology

laid-back

Today it means: Relaxed and easy‐going; demonstrating an absence of stress or worry. Full definition →

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The story

From U.S. slang. The verbal phrase lay back is attested from the late 1950s, whereas the adjectival form emerged in print in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Presumably originally a metaphor—literally, “sitting in a tilted‐back chair”, a relaxed posture.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.