adjective
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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
Explanation
Otiose is a colorful, although somewhat old-fashioned, word for "lazy." It also means serving no useful purpose: that steak knife next to your plate is otiose if you're having oatmeal for dinner. Otiose, which can be pronounced either with a t sound (OH-tee-ohs) or a sh sound (OH-she-ohs), comes from the Latin word otium "leisure," but its modern meaning is closer to "leisure suit," that is, useless and not very handsome. If you're already wearing suspenders, then a belt is otiose.
Vocabulary lists containing otiose
Good Riddance
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100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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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.
But for Getachew Reda, president of the Tigray interim regional administration, those definitions are otiose.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2024
Other times, helped along by the accounts of my Jesuit schoolteachers, I imagined him waiting, otiose and slightly bored—restless, as he had often seemed to be in life—in the long, cosmic queue of Purgatory.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 14, 2019
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 • Apr. 24, 2015
It could be that, because postmodern novels permit themselves such extraordinary liberties with the very history and geography that they exploit, fact-checking is now otiose.
From The Guardian • Oct. 17, 2010
His own girl sat sprawled out gracelessly on an overstuffed sofa with an expression of otiose boredom.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
