What does “Faultier” mean in German?

German often names animals by simply describing them, and das Faultier is the bluntest example: faul (lazy) + Tier (animal) — a sloth is literally the “lazy animal.” The baby sloth in this clip lives up to its name, as the narrator notes: es bewegt sich sehr langsam. English named the same animal after a deadly sin, so both languages are judging it — German just does it more transparently.

The pattern multiplies fast: das Stinktier (“stink animal” — skunk), das Gürteltier (“belt animal” — armadillo), das Nashorn (“nose horn” — rhino). And faul does double duty in German: a lazy person is faul, but so is a rotten apple — ein fauler Apfel. The clip adds the family word too: the mother sloth is das Mutterfaultier, compounds stacking exactly as German promises.