Early 20th century; earliest use found in Leo Wiener (1862–1939). From Russian Oblomov from Oblomov, the name of the hero of the novel Oblomov by Ivan Gončarov, whose daydreaming idleness is portrayed as being representative of the condition of Russia and its aristocracy in the mid 19th cent. With the choice of the name compare Russian oblom break, breaking off, (colloquial) clodhopper, bumpkin and -ov, genitive plural suffix forming many personal names.