idle

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

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

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

idle wheel
a wheel or pulley that guides a belt or keeps it under tension

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (4)

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Simplified etymology

Idle comes from Old English īdel, which included the meanings “empty” and “useless.” The related senses “lazy” and “having nothing to do” were already implicit in the word’s early meanings.

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 ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

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 Qualities

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