idle
not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.
not spent or filled with activity: idle hours.
not in use or operation; not kept busy: idle machinery.
habitually doing nothing or avoiding work; lazy.
of no real worth, importance, or significance: idle talk.
having no basis or reason; baseless; groundless: idle fears.
frivolous; vain: idle pleasures.
meaningless; senseless: idle threats.
futile; unavailing: idle rage.
to pass time doing nothing.
to move, loiter, or saunter aimlessly: to idle along the avenue.
(of a machine, engine, or mechanism) to operate at a low speed, disengaged from the load.
to pass (time) doing nothing (often followed by away): to idle away the afternoon.
to cause (a person) to be idle: The strike idled many workers.
to cause (a machine, engine, or mechanism) to idle: I waited in the car while idling the engine.
the state or quality of being idle.
the state of a machine, engine, or mechanism that is idling: a cold engine that stalls at idle.
Origin of idle
1synonym study For idle
word story For idle
One of the senses of the verb idle, “to spend one’s time doing nothing,” dates from the 17th century and is first recorded in Samuel Pepys’ Diary.
The mechanical sense, used of a motor or engine disengaged from its load and operating at a low speed, dates from the 20th century.
Other words for idle
Opposites for idle
Other words from idle
- i·dle·ness, noun
- i·dly, adverb
- o·ver·i·dle, adjective
- o·ver·i·dle·ness, noun
- un·i·dle, adjective
- un·i·dling, adjective
Words that may be confused with idle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use idle in a sentence
He argued without ceasing upon subjects and through causes the idlest with Paulmier the bachelor.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois ChristopheIn Walpole's day the English clergy were the idlest and the most lifeless in the world.
History of the English People, Volume VIII (of 8) | John Richard GreenMy idlest babble, when I am toying with the trifles that fall in my way, if not very full of meaning, is at least musical.
A Mortal Antipathy | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.Full of delightful humour, his idlest sayings—when he took the trouble to say anything which he frequently did not!
Robert Louis Stevenson | Margaret Moyes BlackIt is the daughters of the moneyed bourgeoisie who are the idlest and most empty-minded.
A Word to Women | Mrs. C. E. Humphry
British Dictionary definitions for idle
/ (ˈaɪdəl) /
unemployed or unoccupied; inactive
not operating or being used
(of money) not being used to earn interest or dividends
not wanting to work; lazy
(usually prenominal) frivolous or trivial: idle pleasures
ineffective or powerless; fruitless; vain
without basis; unfounded
(when tr, often foll by away) to waste or pass (time) fruitlessly or inactively: he idled the hours away
(intr) to loiter or move aimlessly
(intr) (of a shaft, engine, etc) to turn without doing useful work
(intr) (of an engine) to run at low speed with the transmission disengaged: Also (Brit): tick over
(tr) US and Canadian to cause to be inactive or unemployed
Origin of idle
1Derived forms of idle
- idleness, noun
- idly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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