indolent

[ in-dl-uhnt ]

See synonyms for: indolent indolently on Thesaurus.com

adjective

having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful: an indolent person.
Pathology. causing little or no pain; inactive or relatively benign: an indolent ulcer that is not painful and is slow to heal.

Origin of indolent

First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin indolent- (stem of indolēns ), equivalent to in- in-³ + dolent- (stem of dolēns ), present participle of dolēre “to be painful, be in pain”; see dole², -ent

synonym study For indolent

1. See idle.

Other words for indolent

1	slow, inactive, sluggish, torpid

See synonyms for indolent on Thesaurus.com

Other words from indolent

in·do·lent·ly, adverb

Words Nearby indolent

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use indolent in a sentence

It also sheds light on which patterns are linked to more indolent forms of the disease, where intervening with invasive surgery or toxic radiation or chemotherapy might do more harm than good.
Changing Cancer Care, So Patients No Longer Feel Like a Number | Alice Park | November 3, 2021 | Time
Rather, there are indolent cancers, similar to those in the prostate, that grow more slowly, or hardly at all.
Bringing WISDOM to Breast Cancer Care | Alice Park | October 22, 2021 | Time
I mean, who else could possibly be as indolent as a teachers' union member?
The Dumbest Journalism Passage of All Time | Michael Tomasky | June 18, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
This kind of cancer can be so indolent that patients often die with it than from it.
Jobs’s Unorthodox Treatment | Sharon Begley | October 6, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
In part, that is because neuroendocrine cancers tend to be quite slow growing, or indolent.
Jobs’s Unorthodox Treatment | Sharon Begley | October 6, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

Salon wrote: “Hilton is the one everyone has come to see, and her indolent, dull coolness does not disappoint.”
Paris Hilton: End of an Era? | Tricia Romano | August 26, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
[Rushdie] cut to a passage that imagined the most indolent couple imaginable, Linda Evangelista and Goncharov's Ilya Oblomov.
Celebrating World Literature | Emily Stokes | April 30, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
An indolent blonde, fond of dancing, but a nonentity from both the moral and the intellectual standpoints.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
To this indolent, pleasure-loving son, nothing could be in greater contrast than the father.
Those Dale Girls | Frank Weston Carruth
The Portuguese are a people that require rousing; they are indolent, lazy, and generally helpless.
Spanish Life in Town and Country | L. Higgin and Eugne E. Street
They are equally indolent and cowardly, when glutted with prey; and they seldom attack men unless they find them asleep.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Michel, who was so indolent that he would not pay the slightest attention to his own business affairs, in years gone by!
The Seven Cardinal Sins: Envy and Indolence | Eugne Sue

British Dictionary definitions for indolent

indolent

/ (ˈɪndələnt) /

adjective

disliking work or effort; lazy; idle
pathol causing little pain: an indolent tumour

(esp of a painless ulcer) slow to heal

Origin of indolent

C17: from Latin indolēns not feeling pain, from in- 1 + dolēns, from dolēre to grieve, cause distress

Derived forms of indolent

indolence, noun
indolently, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Browse