idle

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   not in active use

   the machinery sat idle during the strike

2. 2
   adj

   not in action or at work

   an idle laborer

3. 3
   adj

   not having a job

   idle carpenters

4. 4
   adj

   lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility

   idle talk

5. 5
   adj

   silly or trivial

   idle pleasure

6. 6
   noun

   the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling

   the car engine was running at idle

7. 7
   adj

   Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.

   idle hours

8. 8
   adj

   Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.

   idle workmen

Etymology

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdal, from Proto-Germanic *īdalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), ijl (“rareified, skinny”), iel (“thin, slender”); German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”); German eitel (“vain, conceited”); and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).