idle
/ˈaɪd(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.70 in modern English
5
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
adj
Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
adj
Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
Example Sentences
- "idle hours"
- "My computer hibernates after it has been idle for 30 minutes."
- "The majority of accounts require no minimum balance and charge no monthly service fee. Where monthly fees and balance requirements exist, they're low. You earn no interest on the idle money in the account."
- "idle workmen"
- "Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes."
- "an idle fellow"
Etymology
From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdl, from Proto-Germanic *īdlaz. 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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: idel, īdel, *īdl, *īdlaz, idelen, īdlian
Usage
Inflected Forms
more idle (comparative)
most idle (superlative)
idles (present, singular)
idling (participle, present)
idled (participle, past)
idled (past)
idles (plural)