do-nothing
Americannoun
-
do-nothings
plural
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of do-nothing
First recorded in 1570–80
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.
See Examples For:
The plan’s do-nothing nature was never so clearly articulated as when Modica approached the mic at a packed town meeting Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 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
With respect to the treatment of gout the greatest variety of opinion has prevailed and practice been pursued, from the numerous quaint nostrums detailed by Lucian to the “expectant” or do-nothing system recommended by Sydenham.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various
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
According to America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference, an accusatory, tweaked-up documentary that aired on PBS last week, the watchful do-nothings included high officials of the U.S. government.
From Time Magazine Archive
Behind the harpies advance the busy-bodies, the would-be well-informed, and a promiscuous crowd of well-intentioned do-nothings.
From Diary from March 4, 1861, to November 12, 1862 by Adam G. de Gurowski, Count
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