IDLE


Meaning of IDLE in English

I. i·dle 1 /ˈaɪdl/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Language: Old English ; Origin: idel ]

1 . not working or producing anything OPP busy :

I cannot afford to leave the land lying idle.

The whole team stood idle, waiting for the mechanic.

The workers have been idle for the last six months.

2 . not serious, or not done with any definite intention:

She was not a woman to make idle threats.

idle chatter/talk/gossip etc

It was only from idle curiosity that she went into the barn.

3 . lazy:

Go and wake up that idle brother of yours.

REGISTER

Idle sounds rather old-fashioned and literary. In everyday English, people usually say lazy :

She's not stupid, just lazy.

4 . it is idle to do something it is not worth doing something, because nothing will be achieved:

It would be idle to deny that progress was made.

5 . the idle rich rich people who do not have to work

—idleness noun [uncountable]

—idly adverb :

They sat chatting idly.

I cannot stand idly by and let him take the blame.

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ lazy not liking work or physical activity, or not making any effort to do anything:

a lazy student

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You make your own breakfast! Don't be so lazy!

▪ idle lazy and not doing enough work. Idle sounds rather formal and is becoming old-fashioned. In everyday English, people usually use lazy :

The beggars were too idle to look for work.

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Her son was bone idle (=extremely lazy) .

▪ indolent formal lazy and living a comfortable life:

He spent an indolent first year at Oxford.

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the indolent son of a wealthy landowner

▪ shiftless lazy and having no ambition to succeed or do anything useful with your life:

her shiftless husband

▪ work-shy British English lazy and trying to avoid any work:

He was work-shy, and no one could remember when he’d last held a job.

▪ slothful formal lazy and not liking physical activity:

Her advice to slothful Americans is: ‘Get out there and walk!’

II. idle 2 BrE AmE verb

1 . [intransitive] if an engine idles, it runs slowly while the vehicle, machine etc is not moving:

He flicked a switch and let the boat idle.

2 . [intransitive] to spend time doing nothing:

Sometimes he went for a walk; sometimes he just idled.

3 . [transitive] American English to stop using a factory or stop providing work for your workers, especially temporarily SYN shut down :

The company has idled a number of its US plants indefinitely.

idle something ↔ away phrasal verb

to spend time in a relaxed way, doing nothing:

They idled their time away in the pub.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.