doddle

American  

[dod-l] / ˈdɒd l /

noun

Chiefly British Informal.

1. something easily done, fixed, etc..

   He was really worried about my finishing the fence repairs on my own, but it was a doddle.

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doddle British  

/ ˈdɒdəl /

noun

1. informal something easily accomplished

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Etymology

Origin of doddle

First recorded in 1935–40; of uncertain origin, perhaps from toddle ( def. )

Explanation

The word doddle describes a task that's so easy, it hardly feels like work. It's the kind of thing you can do without even thinking, like hanging up your coat or pouring a glass of water. The noun doddle has its roots in 20th-century British slang. If someone says something is a doddle, they're telling you it will require very little effort. A doddle typically involves no stress and no hassle because it is just a quick and simple job. The term is often used to express how effortlessly a task can be completed, making it a handy word for those moments when something is almost too easy.

Example Sentences

Almost as impressive was the way Knight, working discreetly off-Broadway in Deborah Grimberg’s largely forgettable “Cycling Past the Matterhorn,” endowed a playwriting doddle with intricate layers of felt experience.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2020

Coping with climate change may seem daunting, but it’s a doddle compared to terraforming Mars.

From Scientific American • Mar. 17, 2018

As a pilot who also did aerobatic flying when she was younger, the centrifuge and microgravity flights were a doddle.

From BBC • Jul. 18, 2016

Last season was a doddle on the domestic front thanks largely to the bungling of other teams but in Europe he came up badly short and now he’s discovering that dynasty-building is a rum stunt.

From The Guardian • Sep. 16, 2015

Translating's half poem and half crossword and no doddle.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell