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 grounding equipment was necessary because the idle Mesa-Sylmar line ran parallel to 12 energized high-voltage lines, creating the danger of induction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
This relic of combustion awakens in the morning with the refinement of a coffee grinder, winding at around 3,000 rpm until the catalytic converter heats up and the revs fall back to idle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 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
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
They didn’t let us stand idle, but they didn’t force the pace either.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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
Only time will tell which version of Sissoko Tottenham have got: the often sullen idler who irritated Newcastle fans or the inspirational player who so impressively raised his game in June.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 9, 2016
But don't you fear that I'm turning into an idler.
From Mrs. Thompson A Novel by W. B. (William Babington) Maxwell
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
But I'll defy the sternest or the idlest man not to open the leaves of such a work as that when he first takes it out of his new dress-coat.
From The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson By One of the Firm by Anthony Trollope
“People say that you are the idlest chap in these parts; but it seems to me that, with the work thou likest, thou canst be as busy as the best.”
From Eli's Children The Chronicles of an Unhappy Family by George Manville Fenn
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 vessel, having reached the rig, idles on foamy water beneath its rigid steel beams, in a sticky, highway-scented mist.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2020
“Billy never idles, so why should you?” the ’80s MTV star growls in a public service announcement intended to shame New Yorkers into shutting the engine off.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2020
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
A fire at the plant in September idled the rolling line where aluminum sheet is produced.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 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
Two night riders, tall and densely proportioned, idled on the porch smoking their pipes with complacent sloth.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Mamdani has also announced the collection of more than $9 million in idling fines from Amazon delivery vehicles, and sent cease-and-desist orders to online retailers, including Amazon, that the city said were selling illegal e-bikes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The officer walked up to my idling Impala and informed me that my left taillight was out.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
The parking lot would prevent port-bound trucks from idling near schools and parks, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
The spokesperson added the council was looking to develop "eco driving" across the fleet, starting with monitoring its vehicles' throttle usage, speed, mileage and idling in an effort to reduce fuel usage and carbon emissions.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
The clic-cloc of the women’s heels, the laughter of idling men in doorways.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
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.
