What is another word for idle?

Synonyms for idle
ˈaɪd lidle

This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word idle.

English Synonyms and Antonyms2.0 / 1 vote

  1. idle

    Idle in all uses rests upon its root meaning, as derived from the Anglo-Saxon idel, which signifies vain, empty, useless. Idle thus denotes not primarily the absence of action, but vain action — the absence of useful, effective action; the idle schoolboy may be very actively whittling his desk or tormenting his neighbors. Doing nothing whatever is the secondary meaning of idle. One may be temporarily idle of necessity; if he is habitually idle, it is his own fault. Lazy signifies indisposed to exertion, averse to labor; idleness is in fact; laziness is in disposition or inclination. A lazy person may chance to be employed in useful work, but he acts without energy or impetus. We speak figuratively of a lazy stream. The inert person seems like dead matter (characterized by inertia), powerless to move; the sluggish moves heavily and toilsomely; the most active person may sometimes find the bodily or mental powers sluggish. Slothful belongs in the moral realm, denoting a self-indulgent aversion to exertion. "The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth," Prov. xxvi, 15. Indolent is a milder term for the same quality; the slothful man hates action; the indolent man loves inaction. Compare VAIN.

    Synonyms:
    inactive, indolent, inert, lazy, slothful, sluggish, trifling, unemployed, unoccupied, vacant

    Antonyms:
    active, busy, diligent, employed, industrious, occupied, working

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms0.0 / 0 votes

  1. idle

    Synonyms:
    void, unoccupied, waste, vain, empty, unemployed, useless, inactive, lazy, indolent

    Antonyms:
    tilled, occupied, populated, filled, employed, assiduous, industrious

Princeton's WordNet1.0 / 1 vote

  1. idleadjective

    the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling

    "the car engine was running at idle"

    Antonyms:
    overbusy, toiling, busy, profitable, responsible, at work(p), laboring, occupied, up to, labouring, drudging, active, engaged, supported, tied up(p), serious, employed, run, work

  2. idleadjective

    not in action or at work

    "an idle laborer"; "idle drifters"; "the idle rich"; "an idle mind"

    Synonyms:
    groundless, loose, baseless, jobless, out of work, wild, light, dead, unused, unwarranted, unfounded

    Antonyms:
    occupied, overbusy, busy, up to, engaged, drudging, tied up(p), serious, employed, toiling, profitable, laboring, active, at work(p), labouring, supported, responsible, work, run

  3. baseless, groundless, idle, unfounded, unwarranted, wildadjective

    without a basis in reason or fact

    "baseless gossip"; "the allegations proved groundless"; "idle fears"; "unfounded suspicions"; "unwarranted jealousy"

    Synonyms:
    insupportable, jobless, gaga, raging, violent, untamed, unfounded, unwarrantable, dead, out of work, hazardous, tempestuous, undue, indefensible, godforsaken, dotty, unjustified, uncivilised, uncivilized, waste, baseless, risky, angry, wild, savage, fantastic, barbarian, unjustifiable, crazy, raving mad, unused, groundless, barbaric, furious, light, unwarranted, loose

    Antonyms:
    overbusy, occupied, busy, engaged, responsible, employed, active, laboring, labouring, serious, drudging, profitable, supported, tied up(p), at work(p), up to, toiling, run, work

  4. idle, unusedadjective

    not in active use

    "the machinery sat idle during the strike"; "idle hands"

    Synonyms:
    groundless, loose, baseless, jobless, out of work, wild, light, dead, unused, unwarranted, fresh, unfounded

    Antonyms:
    up to, labouring, serious, laboring, toiling, active, at work(p), overbusy, occupied, busy, responsible, profitable, drudging, employed, engaged, supported, tied up(p), run, work

  5. idle, lightadjective

    silly or trivial

    "idle pleasure"; "light banter"; "light idle chatter"

    Synonyms:
    light-headed, lite, wanton, unfounded, jobless, wakeful, faint, lightheaded, low-cal, calorie-free, lightsome, dead, out of work, light-colored, unaccented, weak, easy, promiscuous, abstemious, unclouded, clean, light(a), baseless, clear, wild, tripping, short, scant(p), unused, groundless, sluttish, light, swooning, unwarranted, loose

    Antonyms:
    profitable, employed, drudging, laboring, supported, tied up(p), serious, labouring, active, up to, busy, overbusy, at work(p), occupied, toiling, engaged, responsible, work, run

  6. idle, looseadjective

    lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility

    "idle talk"; "a loose tongue"

    Synonyms:
    wanton, escaped, wild, sluttish, informal, dead, on the loose(p), out of work, easy, unused, liberal, free, jobless, open, lax, loose, unaffixed, groundless, promiscuous, light, slack, unfounded, baseless, at large(p), unwarranted

    Antonyms:
    laboring, responsible, active, tied up(p), drudging, profitable, serious, busy, at work(p), occupied, up to, engaged, overbusy, toiling, employed, supported, labouring, work, run

  7. dead, idleadjective

    not yielding a return

    "dead capital"; "idle funds"

    Synonyms:
    dead(a), wild, bushed(p), dead, out of work, unused, jobless, light, deadened, drained, loose, groundless, utter, beat(p), numb(p), dead(p), unfounded, baseless, stagnant, all in(p), unwarranted

    Antonyms:
    responsible, employed, at work(p), drudging, labouring, up to, serious, tied up(p), toiling, busy, overbusy, active, profitable, laboring, supported, engaged, occupied, run, work

  8. idle, jobless, out of workverb

    not having a job

    "idle carpenters"; "jobless transients"; "many people in the area were out of work"

    Synonyms:
    groundless, loose, baseless, jobless, out of work, wild, light, dead, unused, unwarranted, unfounded

    Antonyms:
    profitable, engaged, tied up(p), active, toiling, drudging, labouring, overbusy, responsible, at work(p), supported, serious, occupied, employed, busy, laboring, up to, run, work

  9. idle, tick oververb

    run disconnected or idle

    "the engine is idling"

    Synonyms:
    tick over, slug, laze, stagnate

    Antonyms:
    busy, supported, at work(p), drudging, responsible, toiling, overbusy, employed, laboring, active, serious, tied up(p), labouring, engaged, occupied, up to, profitable, work, run

  10. idle, laze, slug, stagnateverb

    be idle; exist in a changeless situation

    "The old man sat and stagnated on his porch"; "He slugged in bed all morning"

    Synonyms:
    swig, tick over, slug, laze, stagnate, slog

    Antonyms:
    occupied, overbusy, toiling, engaged, at work(p), up to, labouring, profitable, drudging, tied up(p), laboring, employed, responsible, active, serious, busy, supported, run, work

Dictionary of English Synonymes0.0 / 0 votes

  1. idleadjective

    Synonyms:
    unemployed, unoccupied, unbusied, inactive

  2. idleadjective

    Synonyms:
    indolent, lazy, slothful, sluggish, inert

  3. idleadjective

    Synonyms:
    vacant, unused

  4. idleadjective

    Synonyms:
    useless, ineffectual, bootless, fruitless, unavailing, vain, futile, abortive

  5. idleadjective

    Synonyms:
    trifling, trivial, unimportant, trashy, foolish, unprofitable

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words0.0 / 0 votes

  1. idleadjective

    Synonyms:
    leisure, vain, unavailing, futile, ineffectual, indolent, slothful, inactive, lazy, otiose

Suggested Resources

  1. idle

    Song lyrics by idle -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by idle on the Lyrics.com website.

  2. IDLE

    What does IDLE stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the IDLE acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

How to pronounce idle?

How to say idle in sign language?

Words popularity by usage frequency

rankingword
#42free
#283open
#311down
#613light
#621easy
#746short
#907clear
#1700dead
#1809clean
#1980waste
#2028wild
#2085fresh
#2448void
#2964empty
#3304crazy
#4089fantastic
#4110liberal
#4981weak
#5227loose
#5664lite
#5700hazardous
#5940violent
#6547angry
#7210informal
#9013idle
#9125lazy
#9792savage
#10035unused
#10226useless
#10506inactive
#10675vacant
#12212unemployed
#13927standby
#14167escaped
#15135faint
#15665risky
#15690vain
#16835furious
#16860drained
#17054utter
#17068lax
#17781slack
#18377downtime
#18847raging
#19589slug
#21803undue
#26145dormant
#26177barbarian
#26644tripping
#27289inert
#28771inactivity
#29806sluggish
#36686unfounded
#36988stagnant
#37511jobless
#37717unwarranted
#39191wanton
#40761unjustified
#43810barbaric
#43939unoccupied
#45774promiscuous
#46432swig
#49259idling
#51788untamed
#60134baseless
#61305dotty
#61739gaga
#62791slog
#67297idleness
#69037trifling
#72925indefensible
#78907unjustifiable
#80300indolent
#84338groundless
#100771stagnate
#102327uncivilized
#104568laze
#106455tempestuous
#114767slothful
#122874lightheaded
#133057swooning
#157947insupportable
#162789godforsaken
#169023wakeful
#175620nonresponsive
#191016deadened
#212127unwarrantable
#224550unclouded
#232264unaccented
#236180uncivilised
#292522abstemious
#322001sluttish

How to use idle in a sentence?

  1. Thomas Jefferson:

    Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.

  2. Matthew Arnold:

    Unquiet souls. In the dark fermentation of earth, in the never idle workshop of nature, in the eternal movement, yea shall find yourselves again.

  3. Joe Biden:

    No one should be making idle comments about the use of nuclear weapons or the possibility of the need to use them.

  4. Timothy Finch:

    ( There's) no economic growth, nowhere to work. Nowhere. A young person can only work at a fast-food restaurant, if I can't work, what am I going to do ? I sit at home all day. Idle time makes an idle mind.

  5. Jorge Luis Borges:

    I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does.


Translations for idle

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • عاطل عن العملArabic
  • незаетBulgarian
  • desocupat, inactiu, aturatCatalan, Valencian
  • zahálet, nepotřebný, mrhat, volný, líný, neužitečný, nečinnýCzech
  • überflüssig, nutzlos, müßig, untätigGerman
  • άνεργος, οκνηρός, ανώφελος, αδρανής, άχρηστοςGreek
  • ocioso, flojear, desocupado, vagabundoSpanish
  • بیهودهPersian
  • laiska, toimeton, maleksia, joutilas, joutava, [[olla]] [[joutokäynnillä]], olla vapaallaFinnish
  • inutile, négligeable, fainéanter, fainéant, inactif, oisifFrench
  • caithScottish Gaelic
  • אבטלהHebrew
  • henyél, tétlenHungarian
  • girare al minimo, infingardo, vano, sciupare nell'ozio, pigro, oziare, in folle, girare a vuoto, ozioso, sprecare tempo, indolente, disoccupato, inattivo, inutile, perdere tempoItalian
  • Japanese
  • 게으른Korean
  • ōtiōsusLatin
  • nietsdoend, inactief, nutteloos, ijdelDutch
  • tomgangNorwegian
  • leniwyPolish
  • inapropriado, vagabundo, preguiçoso, ocioso, imprestável, desocupado, vazio, perder tempo, vão, desempregado, inútilPortuguese
  • незанятыйRussian
  • overksam, gå på tomgångSwedish
  • zembeaSwahili
  • boş, atılTurkish

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"idle." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/idle>.

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    Which of the following terms is not a synonym for "Tolerable"?
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    D fair to middling

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