idleness

CEFRC1

/ˈaɪdəlnəs/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The state of doing little or no work.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Groundlessness; worthlessness; triviality; vanity; frivolity.

Examples

  • Sooner or later, you will regret your idleness.

  • Work is preferable to idleness.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The state of being idle; inactivity.

  2. The state of being indolent; indolence.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

His blank led to boredom and a lack of productivity at work.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English ydelnesse, from Old English īdelnes, from Proto-West Germanic *īdalnassī, equivalent to idle + -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian īdelnisse (“idelness”), obsolete Dutch ijdelnis, Old Saxon īdalnussi (“idleness, vanity”), Old High German ītalnissa (“idleness, vanity, emptiness”).