adjective
-
serving no useful purpose
otiose language
-
rare indolent; lazy
Other Word Forms
- otiosely adverb
- otioseness noun
- otiosity noun
Etymology
Origin of otiose
First recorded in 1785–95; from Latin ōtiōsus “at leisure, inactive, undisturbed,” equivalent to ōti(um) “leisure, spare time” + -ōsus adjective suffix; -ose 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Insisting that every branch also have a vault and a cash-handling teller would be otiose, Torstendahl told me, especially given the sharp decline in cash transactions in the past decade.
From The New Yorker
But when Chairman Mao Zedong unleashed his socialist society, dog ownership, like golf or capitalism, was regarded as an otiose affectation.
From Time
His own girl sat sprawled out gracelessly on an overstuffed sofa with an expression of otiose boredom.
From Literature
Ludicrously, it was binned in favour of a hammy and otiose version of the Beatles’ Across the Universe.
From The Guardian
This is not an otiose question but rather a serious one that goes to the very root of the ethics of photojournalism, its training and practice.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
