idle
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: īʹd(ə)l
ipa: /ˈaɪd(ə)l/
note: Canada, idle-idol split
ipa: /ˈʌɪdəl/
rhymes: -aɪdəl
homophone: idol
homophone: idyll
homophone: idyl stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: more idle
form: most idle
Etymology: From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdal, from Proto-Germanic *īdalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), ijl (“rareified, skinny”), iel (“thin, slender”); German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”); German eitel (“vain, conceited”); and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).
Senses: synonyms: bare
leer
void
glosses: Empty, vacant.
examples: text: idle hours
text: My computer hibernates after it has been idle for 30 minutes.
text: The majority of accounts require no minimum balance and charge no monthly service fee. Where monthly fees and balance requirements exist, they're low. You earn no interest on the idle money in the account.
ref: 2009, Jane Bryant Quinn, Making the Most of Your Money Now:
synonyms: word: dormant
word: quiescent
word: suspended
word: abeyant
word: at rest
word: cessant
word: dormant
word: dull
word: fallow
word: idle
word: inactive
word: inert
word: languid
word: latent
word: nonactive
word: quiescent
word: silent
word: sedent
word: sedentary
word: slow
word: suspended
word: torpid
word: unactive
word: unbusy
word: unemployed
word: unoccupied
glosses: Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
examples: text: idle workmen
text: Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
ref: 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
synonyms: word: unbusied
word: workless
word: anachronistic
word: antediluvial
word: antediluvian
word: antiquated
word: antique
word: archaic
word: backward
word: backwards
word: behind the times
word: cobwebbed
word: cobwebby
word: dated
word: defunct
word: discontinued
word: disused
word: dootsie
word: elderly
word: extinct
word: expired
word: fossilized
word: Havishamesque
word: idle
word: Miss Havishamesque
word: obsolete
word: old
word: oldfangled
word: old-fashioned
word: old school
word: outdated
word: outmoded
word: out of date
word: out of fashion
word: outworn
word: parachronistic
word: passé
word: superannuated
word: superseded
word: unemployed
word: unoccupied
word: venerable
word: workless
word: between jobs
word: employmentally challenged
word: idle
word: jobless
word: nonemployed
word: occupationless
word: on the wallaby
word: on the wallaby track
word: out of a job
word: out of work
word: resting
word: unbusied
word: unemployed
word: workless
glosses: Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
examples: text: an idle fellow
text: “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,[…]!”
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
synonyms: word: indolent
word: inert
word: lazy
word: fainéant
word: bone-idle
word: idle
word: indolent
word: inert
word: lackadaisical
word: lither
word: slothful
word: work-shy
word: sluggish
word: swear
word: torpid
glosses: Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.
examples: text: an idle story;  idle talk;  idle rumor
synonyms: word: petty
word: pointless
word: base
word: contemptible
word: foolish
word: for the birds
word: futile
word: frivolous
word: idle
word: ignorable
word: immaterial
word: inconsequential
word: inconsiderable
word: indifferent
word: insignificant
word: like a fart in a windstorm
word: meager
word: mean
word: minor
word: negligible
word: nothingburger
word: nondescript
word: paltry
word: petty
word: picayune
word: picayunish
word: piddling
word: piddly
word: pissant
word: pitiful
word: pointless
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: tin-pot
word: trifling
word: trivial
word: two-bit
word: unimportant
word: unweighty
word: vain
word: worthless
word: wretched
glosses: Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
examples: text: The youth is idle
ref: 1628, John Ford, The Lover's Melancholy:
synonyms: word: fatuous
word: unwise
word: asinine
word: balmy
word: barmy
word: bedaft
word: loony
word: daft
word: derpy
word: dim-headed
word: dim-witted
word: dopey
word: dull-headed
word: dull-witted
word: dumb
word: duncical
word: fatuous
word: fuzzy-headed
word: fuzzy-minded
word: gauvison
word: goofy
word: idiotic
word: idle
word: insipient
word: mookish
word: naive
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: slow-witted
word: softheaded
word: soft in the head
word: sottish
word: stupid
word: thick
raw_tags: not of action
word: unsage
word: unwise
word: wool-headed
word: woolly-headed
word: woolly-minded
word: crackpot
word: dense
glosses: Light-headed; foolish.
Derived terms: bone-idle
bone idle
idle as Ludlam's dog
idle asset
idledom
idleful
idle game
idle hands are the Devil's playthings
idle hands are the devil's playthings
idle hands are the devil's tools
idle hands are the Devil's tools
idle hands are the devil's workshop
idle hands are the Devil's workshop
idlehead
idleheaded
idlehood
idleness
idle pulley
idleship
idlesome
idle threat
idle time
idle wheel
idling
idlish
idly
nonidle
overidle
the devil makes work for idle hands
idle hands make work for the Devil
idle hands make work for the devil
the Devil finds work for idle hands
the devil finds work for idle hands
the Devil makes work for idle hands
unidle