Idleness
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The state of being idle; inactivity. countable, uncountable
- 2 having no employment wordnet
- 3 The state of being indolent; indolence. countable, uncountable
"For either they be puffed vp vvith pride, / Or fraught vvith enuie that their galls do ſvvell, / Or they their dayes to ydleneſſe diuide, / Or drovvnded lie in pleaſures vvaſtefull vvell, / In vvhich like Moldvvarps [i.e., moles] nouſling ſtill they lurke, / Vnmyndfull of chiefe parts of manlineſſe, / And do themſelues for vvant of other vvorke, / Vaine votaries of laeſie loue profeſſe, […]"
- 4 the trait of being idle out of a reluctance to work wordnet
- 5 Groundlessness; worthlessness; triviality; vanity; frivolity. countable, uncountable
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- 6 the quality of lacking substance or value wordnet
Example
More examples"Sooner or later, you will regret your idleness."
Etymology
From Middle English ydelnesse, from Old English īdelnes, from Proto-West Germanic *īdalnassī, equivalent to idle + -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian īdelnisse (“idelness”), obsolete Dutch ijdelnis, Old Saxon īdalnussi (“idleness, vanity”), Old High German ītalnissa (“idleness, vanity, emptiness”).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.