indolence

American  

[in-dl-uhns] / ˈɪn dl əns /

noun

1. the quality or state of being indolent.

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Etymology

Origin of indolence

1595–1605; < Latin indolentia freedom from pain; see indolent, -ence

Explanation

If your boss catches you sleeping with your head on your desk, she's likely to comment on your indolence. Indolence is another word for laziness. The noun indolence means a habit of laziness, especially when avoiding work. In the 1600s, indolence was mostly used to mean "insensitivity to pain," from the Latin indolentia, "freedom from pain." About 100 years later, indolence came to have its current meaning, possibly because of the phrase "taking pains," which means "being careful." If you are so careful that you never leave the house, people might think of you as lazy.

Example Sentences

Nobody would’ve called it back when frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was singing about the extremes of teenage indolence in Green Day’s first hit single, “Longview.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2024

Theodore Agnew called counter-fraud efforts “woeful” and said the government was paralyzed by a combination of “arrogance, indolence and ignorance.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 24, 2022

For most of Yvan’s clients, life seems to go on as before, with little to disrupt their cosseted indolence.

From New York Times • Sep. 9, 2021

In light of his own apparent indolence and distaste for his duties, perhaps Mr. Hice should not be using the word “vacation” quite so casually.

From Washington Post • Jul. 28, 2021

Fitzsimmons realized that he was confronted with a behavioral problem at least as maddening as Hard Tack’s murderousness: pathological indolence.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand