nutteloos adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
onaktief adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
werksku adj (averse to work or labor)
hanna-hanna verb (transitive: to spend in idleness, to waste)

Ancient Greek

1 entries

ἀργός adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Arabic

1 entries

عَاطِل عَن اَلْعَمَل adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Asturian

1 entries

folgosu adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Belarusian

1 entries

ляні́вы adj (averse to work or labor)

Bulgarian

4 entries

безде́ен adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
безполе́зен adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
безрабо́тен adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
лени́в adj (averse to work or labor)

Catalan

4 entries

aturat adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
desocupat adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
dropo adj (averse to work or labor)
gandul adj (averse to work or labor)

Chinese Cantonese

4 entries

冇意義嘅 /冇意义嘅 adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
唔重要嘅 adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
得閒嘅 /得闲嘅 adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
懶惰嘅 /懒惰嘅 adj (averse to work or labor)

Chinese Mandarin

1 entries

閒 /闲 adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Czech

4 entries

líný adj (averse to work or labor)
nepotřebný adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
neužitečný adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
nečinný adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Dutch

3 entries

inactief adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
nietsdoend adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
nutteloos adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)

Esperanto

2 entries

senokupa adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
vana adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)

Finnish

4 entries

joutava adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
joutilas adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
joutilas adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
laiska adj (averse to work or labor)

French

4 entries

fainéant adj (averse to work or labor)
inactif adj (averse to work or labor)
oiseux adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
oisif adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Galician

4 entries

baldeiro adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
calaceiro adj (averse to work or labor)
camanduleiro adj (averse to work or labor)
desempregado adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Georgian

4 entries

დაუსაქმებელი adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
მცონარა adj (averse to work or labor)
უმაქნისი adj (averse to work or labor)
უმუშევარი adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

German

4 entries

Mußezeit adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
Totzeit adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
arbeitsscheu adj (averse to work or labor)
belanglos adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)

Greek

4 entries

άεργος adj (averse to work or labor)
άνεργος adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
άχρηστος adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
αδρανής adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)

Hebrew

2 entries

אבטלה verb (transitive: to spend in idleness, to waste)
אבטלה verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)

Hungarian

2 entries

tétlen adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
henyél verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)

Indonesian

1 entries

gabut adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Ingrian

4 entries

joutava adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
joutava adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
joutava adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
laiska adj (averse to work or labor)

Irish

1 entries

díomhaoin adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Italian

4 entries

disoccupato adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
inattivo adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
inattivo adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
indolente adj (averse to work or labor)

Japanese

1 entries

暇な adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Korean

1 entries

게으르다 adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Latin

3 entries

deses adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
ōtiōsus adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
ōtiōsus adj (averse to work or labor)

Macedonian

1 entries

мрзлив adj (averse to work or labor)

Middle English

4 entries

ydel adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
ydel adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
ydel adj (averse to work or labor)
ydel adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)

Māori

4 entries

paeko adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
paeko adj (averse to work or labor)
whakapateko verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)
whakapāeko verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)

Norwegian

1 entries

arbeidsløs adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Occitan

4 entries

canhós adj (averse to work or labor)
desobrat adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
desocupat adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
estaire adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)

Ottoman Turkish

3 entries

تنبل adj (averse to work or labor)
كارسز adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
هایلاز adj (averse to work or labor)

Persian

4 entries

الکی adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)
بیکار adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
بیکار adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
بیکاری adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)

Polish

4 entries

bezczynny adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
leniwy adj (averse to work or labor)
próżny adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
bimbać verb (transitive: to spend in idleness, to waste)

Portuguese

4 entries

desempregado adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
desocupado adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
desocupado adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
imprestável adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)

Quechua

1 entries

qilla adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Russian

3 entries

лени́вый adj (averse to work or labor)
неза́нятый adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
безде́льничать verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)

Scottish Gaelic

4 entries

dìomhain adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
dìomhain adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
dìomhain adj (averse to work or labor)
dìomhain adj (of no importance, worthless, useless)

Slovak

1 entries

lenivý adj (averse to work or labor)

Spanish

4 entries

desocupado adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
ocioso adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)
ocioso adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
vagabundo adj (averse to work or labor)

Swahili

1 entries

zembea verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)

Swedish

2 entries

overksam adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
gå på tomgång verb (to run at a slow speed, or out of gear)

Thai

1 entries

ว่างงาน adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Tocharian B

1 entries

ālase adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

Turkish

4 entries

atıl adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
avare adj (not engaged in any occupation or employment)
avare adj (averse to work or labor)
aylak adj (not turned to appropriate use, not occupied, of time with little activity)

Ukrainian

2 entries

леда́чий adj (averse to work or labor)
ліни́вий adj (averse to work or labor)

Vietnamese

4 entries

không hoạt động verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)
ngồi không verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)
nằm không verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)
đứng không verb (intransitive: to lose or spend time doing nothing)

Sample sentences

24 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

You are idle to the bone.

Source: tatoeba (9593)

Some boys are diligent, others are idle.

Source: tatoeba (18844)

I spent idle days during the vacation.

Source: tatoeba (19781)

The machines are idle now.

Source: tatoeba (20483)

Showing 4 of 24 available sentences.

More for "idle"

Meaning Antonyms Sentences Word Type

Keep exploring

Compare antonyms Use in sentences Read the blog

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