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:
The investigators’ report said the fire ignited when electrical arcing on the idle line caused hot metal particles to fall into “the receptive fuel beds consisting of dry vegetation” below the tower.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
"Don't be idle: if you can, move," Fava, who recently became a great-grandmother, said in a message to fellow seniors.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
A postpandemic semiconductor shortage cost GM billions as the automaker was forced to sporadically idle assembly plants across North America.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Higher prices can bring some of that idle capacity back faster than anyone can build a mine, though not overnight.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Back then people believed that an idle mind was the devil’s workshop—if you didn’t stay busy, you would get into trouble.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Ripley, a slacker and a con man grinding out a living in postwar New York, is sent to Italy to try to persuade a trust-funded idler to come home and take over the family business.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
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
He does not wish to meet the idler who is rushing through the picture-galleries of the past for a new distraction or sensation, where he himself is looking for example and encouragement.
From Thoughts Out of Season (Part II) by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
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
At such times, the idlest fancy is more potent with the mind than the soundest arguments of reason.
From History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. II. by James Anthony Froude
Frank was, indeed, the idlest and best-natured fellow in the world.
From Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 12, March 22, 1884 A Weekly Journal for the Farm, Orchard and Fireside by Various
I am here out of the idlest curiosity.
From The Master Mummer by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
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
“We live right here on the water, sure, we are lucky. But it’s like someone leaves a big truck, just parks it and idles it in front of your house.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 24, 2021
Back at the cemetery on Boston's North Shore in Lynn, Dave's youngest son, Cameron, idles near David's grave, his voice cracking as he struggles to talk about his brother, his hero.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2019
The burbling idles of the Chevy and the Buick reverberating in our chests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2019
A line of black town cars idles at the curb while their drivers smoke and chat with each other.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
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
Repositioning of tankers and a return to normal operations for idled plants were among the factors Nasser cited for the delay.
From MarketWatch ● May 11, 2026
But by eight-thirty he’d idled his engine at the bank and stood in the cockpit beside the net drum, listening, with the fog settling all around him.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
The idea struck him at—where else—an airport, when he was waiting for a commercial flight and saw a private jet idling on the tarmac.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
On a recent Tuesday evening, a 16 Handles store in Manhattan was filled with teens idling at tables and charging their phones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The officer walked up to my idling Impala and informed me that my left taillight was out.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
But the sounds of idling diesel work truck engines had replaced the dozens of fire trucks that had been stationed there for days.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
A car was idling in the street, its headlamps trained on his face.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
