do-nothing

American  

[doo-nuhth-ing] / ˈduˌnʌθ ɪŋ /

noun

• do-nothings
  plural

1. a person who chooses to do nothing; a lazy or worthless person.

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adjective

1. characterized by inability or unwillingness to initiate action, work toward a goal, assume responsibility, or the like.

   a do-nothing government.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• do-nothings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of do-nothing

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

do-nothing do-nothings

Yet the role of a do-nothing prince consort doesn’t suit the dutiful, and now fiercely faithful, Alfred, and a war of wills—and of the sexes—ensues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

As much as Forrest is a know-nothing, except when it comes to knowing what love is, he’s also a do-nothing when it comes to acknowledging systemic wrongdoing.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2024

It is the sound of do-nothing summer afternoons in the pre-internet portion of my youth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2021

“Would you say it was a do-nothing session, Mr. President?” asked one reporter at a press conference in the aftermath, according to a description in the official U.S.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 17, 2021

Both these do worse than nothing, is a reflection which comforts the do-nothing poet.

From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Edward Berdoe

And we tell the liars, deniers, and do-nothings to shove off: There’s no future in naysaying.

From The Guardian ● May 22, 2019

Winkler’s Gene Cousineau, a self-serious buffoon long used to being surrounded by weightless do-nothings, mistakes Barry’s confession for an improvised monologue.

From Slate ● Mar. 29, 2019

We associate loafing with people wasting their lives; with harried parents shaking their sleeping teenage children out of bed; with do-nothings, doing nothing.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 23, 2018

Dismissing us as do-nothings gave us plenty of leeway to do everything we wanted while no one was watching.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was the fault of Coqueville, he promised to shake up those do-nothings well.

From The Fête At Coqueville 1907 by L. G. Meyer