idle

B2 Topic:Describing People

US /ˈaɪd(ə)l/ See IPA manual

Homophones

idyl /ˈaɪdəl/ idyll /ˈaɪ.dəl/

Freq #8877

Meanings

1

adj
Not being used or not working at the moment.

The machines sat idle during the strike.
2

adj
Not doing any work; lazy or unoccupied.

He spent the idle summer days lying in the garden.
3

adj
Without serious purpose; trivial.

It was just idle gossip, so don't worry about it.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not being used or not... unused inactive

2 adj · not doing any work; lazy or... inactive dormant

3 adj · without serious purpose;... light

Word family

Forms idledidlesidlestidling

Derived forms bone-idleidledomidlefulidleheadidleheadedidlehoodidleness idleridleshipidlesomeidlingidlingly

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).

idel Middle English īdel Old English *īdal Proto-West Germanic *īdalaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

External links

# idle

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈaɪd(ə)l/
**Frequency rank:** 8877

## Meanings
1. Not being used or not working at the moment.
2. Not doing any work; lazy or unoccupied.
3. Without serious purpose; trivial.

## Examples
- The machines sat idle during the strike.
- He spent the idle summer days lying in the garden.
- It was just idle gossip, so don't worry about it.

## Derived Forms
- bone-idle
- idledom
- idleful
- idlehead
- idleheaded
- idlehood
- idleness
- idler
- idleship
- idlesome
- idling
- idlingly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: idel
- Root: īdel
- Root: *īdal
- Root: *īdalaz

## 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).

## AI Etymology
Idle comes 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). In current use, the main senses are “Not being used or not working at the moment” and “Not doing any work; lazy or unoccupied”.

## Topics
- Describing People

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idle

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