idler

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈaɪdlər/ UK /ˈaɪdlə/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a person who avoids work; also a freely rotating gear or pulley

The idler lounged in the shade while others toiled in the field.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who avoids work;... loafer sluggard slacker layaboutlazybonesshirker

Opposites

worker toiler

Word family

Related forms idle idleness idly

Etymology

From idle + -er. Idle is from Old English idel ('empty, vain, useless'), from Proto-West-Germanic *idal.

idel Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# idler

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈaɪdlər
**IPA (UK):** ˈaɪdlə

## Meanings
1. a person who avoids work; also a freely rotating gear or pulley

## Examples
- The idler lounged in the shade while others toiled in the field.

## Synonyms
- loafer
- sluggard
- slacker
- layabout
- lazybones
- shirker

## Antonyms
- worker
- toiler

## Related Forms
- idle
- idleness
- idly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: idel

## Etymology
From idle + -er. Idle is from Old English idel ('empty, vain, useless'), from Proto-West-Germanic *idal.

## AI Etymology
Idler is from idle + -er. Idle is from Old English idel ('empty, vain, useless'), from Proto-West-Germanic *idal. Important recorded forms include idel (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers a person who avoids work; also a freely rotating gear or pulley. The wider family includes related words such as idle, idleness, and idly.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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idler

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