idle
pronunciation
How to pronounce idle in British English:
UK [ˈaɪdl]
How to pronounce idle in American English:
US [ˈaɪdl]
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- Verb:
- run disconnected or idle
- be idle; exist in a changeless situation
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- Adjective:
- not in action or at work
- without a basis in reason or fact
- not in active use
- silly or trivial
- lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility
- not yielding a return
- not having a job
Word Origin
- idle
- idle: [OE] ‘Lazy’ is only a secondary meaning of idle. It originally meant ‘useless, worthless’ (as in ‘idle threats’), and the sense ‘lazy’ did not develop until the 13th century (the Old English words for ‘lazy’ were slow and slack). Idle is shared by other West Germanic languages, and its relatives (German eitel ‘vain, futile’ and Dutch ijdel ‘vain, useless, conceited’) point up its original English meaning, but it is not known what its ultimate origins are.
- idle (adj.)
- Old English idel "empty, void; vain; worthless, useless; not employed," common West Germanic (cognates: Old Saxon idal, Old Frisian idel "empty, worthless," Old Dutch idil, Old High German ital, German eitel "vain, useless, mere, pure"), of unknown origin. Idle threats preserves original sense; meaning "lazy" is c. 1300.
- idle (v.)
- late 15c., "make vain or worthless," from idle (adj.). Meaning "spend or waste (time)" is from 1650s. Meaning "cause to be idle" is from 1789. Sense of "running slowly and steadily without transmitting power" (as a motor) first recorded 1916. Related: Idled; idling.
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. Inflation is stable because there is less idle capacity to restrain prices .
- 2. Inefficient state farms occupy three-quarters of the best land but leave much of it idle .
- 3. Only the dying can be really idle .
- 4. It might seem an idle pastime but academics have come up with a mathematical equation for why people procrastinate .
- 5. Or is it a coffee shop furnished with tall wooden benches , where even the air is idle ?