idle
Americanadjective
-
idler,
comparative
-
idlest
superlative
-
not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing.
idle workers.
- Synonyms:
- sluggish
- Antonyms:
- industrious, busy
-
not spent or filled with activity.
idle hours.
-
not in use or operation; not kept busy.
idle machinery.
-
habitually doing nothing or avoiding work; lazy.
-
of no real worth, importance, or significance.
idle talk.
- Antonyms:
- worthwhile, important
-
having no basis or reason; baseless; groundless.
idle fears.
-
frivolous; vain.
idle pleasures.
- Synonyms:
- wasteful
-
meaningless; senseless.
idle threats.
-
futile; unavailing.
idle rage.
verb (used without object)
-
idles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
idled,
past participle, past
-
idling
present participle
-
to pass time doing nothing.
-
to move, loiter, or saunter aimlessly.
to idle along the avenue.
-
(of a machine, engine, or mechanism) to operate at a low speed, disengaged from the load.
verb (used with object)
-
idles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
idled,
past participle, past
-
idling
present participle
-
to pass (time) doing nothing (often followed byaway ).
to idle away the afternoon.
- Synonyms:
- waste
-
to cause (a person) to be idle.
The strike idled many workers.
-
to cause (a machine, engine, or mechanism) to idle.
I waited in the car while idling the engine.
noun
-
the state or quality of being idle.
-
the state of a machine, engine, or mechanism that is idling.
a cold engine that stalls at idle.
adjective
-
unemployed or unoccupied; inactive
-
not operating or being used
-
(of money) not being used to earn interest or dividends
-
not wanting to work; lazy
-
(usually prenominal) frivolous or trivial
idle pleasures
-
ineffective or powerless; fruitless; vain
-
without basis; unfounded
verb
-
to waste or pass (time) fruitlessly or inactively
he idled the hours away
-
(intr) to loiter or move aimlessly
-
(intr) (of a shaft, engine, etc) to turn without doing useful work
-
Also (Brit): tick over. (intr) (of an engine) to run at low speed with the transmission disengaged
-
(tr) to cause to be inactive or unemployed
Synonym Usage
Idle, indolent, lazy, slothful apply to a person who is not active. To be idle is to be inactive or not working at a job. The word is sometimes derogatory, but not always, since one may be relaxing temporarily or may be idle through necessity: pleasantly idle on a vacation; to be idle because one is unemployed or because supplies are lacking. The indolent person is naturally disposed to avoid exertion: indolent and slow in movement; an indolent and contented fisherman. The lazy person is averse to exertion or work, and especially to continued application; the word is usually derogatory: too lazy to earn a living; incurably lazy. Slothful denotes a reprehensible unwillingness to carry one's share of the burden: so slothful as to be a burden on others. See loiter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
idlesimple
-
idlessimple
-
have idledperfect
-
has idledperfect
-
am idlingprogressive
-
are idlingprogressive
-
is idlingprogressive
-
have been idlingperfect progressive
-
has been idlingperfect progressive
Past
-
idledsimple
-
had idledperfect
-
was idlingprogressive
-
were idlingprogressive
-
had been idlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of idle
First recorded before 900, and in 1915–20 idle for def. 12; Middle English, Old English īdel (adjective) “empty, trifling, vain, useless”; cognate with German eitel
Explanation
Something idle is not active. If your car is idling, it's running but not moving. If someone calls you idle, it either means they think you don't have enough to do or that you're just plain lazy. Idle can also mean having no value or purpose: idle rumors are rumors that people make up when they're bored, but have no grounding in fact. As a verb, idle can also refer to a car engine that is running while the vehicle is not moving. The adjective descends from Middle English idel, from Old English īdel "empty."
Vocabulary lists containing idle
Some Tricky Homonyms
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The Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer
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List 8
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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.
See Examples For:
They include gas leaks, spraying substances to cover the smell of fumes and failing to properly maintain idle wells, among others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
Agents will sweep idle money into top-paying accounts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Pay for idle time between orders is a major industry flashpoint.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
County is home to almost 8 million registered vehicles, tens of thousands of which were left idle on the street through the pandemic’s early months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
He let the truck idle for a moment before he killed the engine and got out.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
There is an almost continuous succession of scenes in which Nicholson sketches this idler, lover, jokester, manipulator, con man, gambler, loner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
Oh, that would be the uncle who willed his farm and estate to Onegin, a charming idler.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 9, 2020
What’s missing is a palpable grit, particularly in Whitted’s performance, that would help us to a belief in Hal’s head-spinning pivot from idler and carouser to beloved hero of the realm.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 10, 2019
No idler, he read everything and studied at universities throughout Germany and France.
From New York Times ● May 14, 2011
An idler, it was argued, possessed ample means, and for that cause he was respected.
From A Drake by George! by John Trevena
Shettleston is one of Britain’s poorest, idlest and sickest places; at 64, male life expectancy is 15 years below the national average and falling.
From Economist ● Jul. 10, 2014
On the idlest previous day in the history of the bureau, Feb. 25, 1932, there had been 56 licenses issued.
From Time Magazine Archive
The subject was idlest village gossip, but it served to divert Hallam's thoughts from his impending errand, and he arrived at the office of the mill in good spirits.
From Reels and Spindles A Story of Mill Life by Frank T. (Frank Thayer) Merrill
There it remains, behind spiked railings, the idlest monument of a whim.
From Highways and Byways in Surrey by Hugh Thomson
As a matter of fact, the active campaign never came, and for many moons we led the very idlest life down there that soldiers in time of war ever led anywhere.
From Recollections of a Varied Life by George Cary Eggleston
Your internal machinery fires when you want to sleep and idles when you need to be sharp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
As I sit in the car with C after the second ICE vehicle sped off, the remaining Wagoneer idles midblock—right in front of C’s house.
From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2026
A carpenter whose own narrowboat is moored in a clump of four boats says that when one of his neighbours idles her older diesel engine, the exhaust seeps right into his boat, nearly choking him.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2023
The strike idles many entertainment industry workers, delaying the start of the television season until November.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
Connor and I sit in the back seat as the car idles.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
“Hurdles include mine clearance, insurance reinstatement, emptying excess Gulf oil storage, repositioning ships, and restarting idled production fields and downstream infrastructure across several Gulf producers,” they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
His girlfriend, Britany Jacobs, idled their car in a disabled parking spot, accompanied by the couple’s other child.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2026
He voiced his rage over an empty reservoir, idled fire trucks and what he called dangerous brush clearance policies.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Then there is MP, which restarted the Mountain Pass mine in 2018 External link after it had idled in 2015.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
They idled at a stoplight, and Kendra stared at an overweight woman gassing up her minivan.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
Owner-operator Deol uses battery-powered electric air conditioning systems installed on both his trucks so he can turn off the engines and avoid idling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Every idling minute was income lost: One driver sprinted from his truck into the concourse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
His comments on the sidelines of G20 talks come as Russian and Ukrainian strikes targeting Black Sea ports have been wrecking and idling agricultural export capacity more quickly than trade flows can recover.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Llyr Gruffydd, cabinet minister for rural resilience and sustainability, said the £20 fixed fine for idling was "insufficient", and not being used "in the way everyone might envision it".
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
The four behind the leader slouched, seeming not so much menacing now as idling, waiting for their next command.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
