idleness

i·dle  (dl)

adj. i·dler, i·dlest

1.

a. Not employed or busy: idle carpenters. See Synonyms at inactive.

b. Avoiding work or employment; lazy: shiftless, idle youth. See Synonyms at lazy.

c. Not in use or operation: idle hands.

2. Lacking substance, value, or basis. See Synonyms at baseless, vain.

v. i·dled, i·dling, i·dles

v.intr.

1. To pass time without working or while avoiding work.

2. To move lazily and without purpose.

3. To run at a slow speed or out of gear. Used of a motor vehicle.

v.tr.

1. To pass (time) without working or while avoiding work; waste: idle the afternoon away.

2. To make or cause to be unemployed or inactive.

3. To cause (a motor, for example) to idle.

n.

1. A state of idling. Used of a motor vehicle: an engine running quietly at idle.

2. A mechanism for regulating the speed at which an engine runs at rest: set the idle higher to keep the motor from stalling.

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[Middle English idel, from Old English del.]

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idle·ness n.

idler (dlr) n.

idly adv.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	idleness - having no employment                 idling, loafing inactivity - being inactive; being less active dolce far niente - carefree idleness
	2.	idleness - the quality of lacking substance or value; "the groundlessness of their report was quickly recognized" groundlessness worthlessness, ineptitude - having no qualities that would render it valuable or useful; "the drill sergeant's intent was to convince all the recruits of their worthlessness"
	3.	idleness - the trait of being idle out of a reluctance to work faineance indolence, laziness - inactivity resulting from a dislike of work

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idleness

noun

1. inactivity, unemployment, leisure, inaction, time on your hands Idleness is a very bad thing for human nature.

2. loafing, inertia, sloth, pottering, trifling, laziness, time-wasting, lazing, torpor, sluggishness, skiving (Brit. slang), vegetating, dilly-dallying (informal), shiftlessness Idleness and incompetence are not inbred in our workers.

Quotations
"Idleness is the only refuge of weak minds" [Lord Chesterfield Letters to his Son]

Translations

idleness [ˈaɪdlnɪs] N

1. (= leisure) → ocio m, ociosidad f; (= having nothing to do) → inactividad f, desocupación f; (= laziness) → holgazanería f, pereza f, flojera f (LAm); (= unemployment) → paro m, desempleo m (LAm)
to live a life of idleness → llevar una vida ociosa
she was frustrated by her enforced idleness → la desesperaba su forzada inactividad

2. (= emptiness) [of threat, promise] → lo vano; [of gossip, talk] → banalidad f, insustancialidad f

idleness [ˈaɪd^əlnɪs] n

(= lack of occupation) → désœuvrement m

(= laziness) → oisiveté f

idleness

n

(= state of not working) → Untätigkeit f; (pleasurable) → Muße f, → Müßiggang (liter) m; to live in idleness → ein untätiges Leben führen, ein Leben der Muße führen (liter); a life of blissful idleness → ein Leben voller köstlicher Muße

(= laziness) → Faulheit f, → Trägheit f

(of promise, threat, words) → Leere f; (of speculation, talk) → Müßigkeit f; (of remark) → Beiläufigkeit f; (= uselessness) → Nutzlosigkeit f, → Vergeblichkeit f, → Eitelkeit f (old)

idleness [ˈaɪdlnɪs] n → pigrizia, ozio

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idleness [ˈaɪdlnɪs] n → pigrizia, ozio