Husband lost out, before showing laziness (5)
I believe the answer is:
sloth
'laziness' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'husband lost out before' is the wordplay.
'husband' becomes 'h' (abbreviation).
'out' indicates anagramming the letters (out can mean wrong or inaccurate).
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'lost' is an anagram of 'slot'.
'h' put after 'slot' is 'SLOTH'.
'showing' is the link.
(Other definitions for sloth that I've seen before include "One hangs a lot" , "Laziness; slow mammal" , "A deadly sin, being lazy" , "Arboreal creature" , "Lethargy" .)