Otiosity

//ˌəʊ.ʃi(ː)ˈɒs.ə.ti// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state or quality of being otiose. countable, uncountable

    "There is no doubt that the ordinary reader would enjoy, and he certainly would profit much by, a revival of the classic work—if only he did not fall asleep over its magniloquent but perissological otiosity."

Example

More examples

"There is no doubt that the ordinary reader would enjoy, and he certainly would profit much by, a revival of the classic work—if only he did not fall asleep over its magniloquent but perissological otiosity."

Etymology

From otiose + -ity, from Middle French ociosité, from Latin otiositas, from Latin otiosus + -itas (“-ity”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.