idle
lazy, inactive, not busy
TRANSLATION
idle = untätig, unbeschäftigt, stillliegend, ruhend, faul, inaktiv, brachliegend (woerterbuch.info) --- GOOGLE INDEX idle: approximately 30,000,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The reason most immigrants are able to find employment here, while millions of indigenous workers remain IDLE, is price, i.e., wages. Many immigrants, especially those from eastern Europe, are prepared to undercut established pay rates, and by all accounts work a lot harder than locals. No wonder UK businesses like them so much.
(adapted from The London Telegraph)
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The IDLE mind knows not what it wants.
- Quintus Ennius (239-169 BC)
(adapted from The London Telegraph)
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The IDLE mind knows not what it wants.
- Quintus Ennius (239-169 BC)
Did you
know?
idle
adjective
- not working or being used (idle production line)
- without any particular purpose (idle thought)
- lazy and not willing to work
- without work, unemployed
- empty (idle threat)
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Etymology: Idle derives from the Old English idel, meaning empty, useless. The sense of "lazy" is from around 1300. The verb sense of running slowly and steadily without transmitting power (idling motor) was first recorded in 1916.
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SYNONYMS
as in unused:
abandoned, asleep, barren, closed down, dead, deserted, down, dusty, empty, gathering dust, inactive, inert, jobless, laid-off, leisured, mothballed, motionless, passive, quiet, redundant, resting, rusty, sleepy, stationary, still, uncultivated, unemployed, unoccupied, untouched, unused, vacant, void, waste, workless
as in lazy:
at rest, indolent, lackadaisical, resting, shiftless, slothful, sluggish
as in effective:
abortive, bootless, empty, frivolous, fruitless, futile, groundless, hollow, insignificant, irrelevant, not serious, nugatory, otiose, pointless, rambling, superficial, trivial, unavailing, unhelpful, unnecessary, unproductive, unsuccessful, useless, vain, worthless
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
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ANTONYMS
employed, industrious, meaningfu
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"If I were you, I wouldn't give much thought to what he said to you. He's known for handing out idle threats."
adjective
- not working or being used (idle production line)
- without any particular purpose (idle thought)
- lazy and not willing to work
- without work, unemployed
- empty (idle threat)
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Etymology: Idle derives from the Old English idel, meaning empty, useless. The sense of "lazy" is from around 1300. The verb sense of running slowly and steadily without transmitting power (idling motor) was first recorded in 1916.
---
SYNONYMS
as in unused:
abandoned, asleep, barren, closed down, dead, deserted, down, dusty, empty, gathering dust, inactive, inert, jobless, laid-off, leisured, mothballed, motionless, passive, quiet, redundant, resting, rusty, sleepy, stationary, still, uncultivated, unemployed, unoccupied, untouched, unused, vacant, void, waste, workless
as in lazy:
at rest, indolent, lackadaisical, resting, shiftless, slothful, sluggish
as in effective:
abortive, bootless, empty, frivolous, fruitless, futile, groundless, hollow, insignificant, irrelevant, not serious, nugatory, otiose, pointless, rambling, superficial, trivial, unavailing, unhelpful, unnecessary, unproductive, unsuccessful, useless, vain, worthless
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
---
ANTONYMS
employed, industrious, meaningfu
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"If I were you, I wouldn't give much thought to what he said to you. He's known for handing out idle threats."
