Indolent Meaning
/ˈɪn.də.lənt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHabitually lazy, procrastinating, or resistant to physical labor.
adjInducing laziness.
Sentence Examples
He was an indolent man, who lived only to eat, drink, and play at cards.
Indolent youth creates a begging old age.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ employee never completed any tasks and spent hours doing nothing.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ cat spent the entire day sleeping on the sunny windowsill instead of catching mice.
Word Origin & History
From French indolent or directly from Late Latin indolēns, from in- (“not”) + dolēns (“hurting”), from doleo (“to hurt”). The later sense of “living easily, slothful” perhaps developed in French.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Mr. Churchill has pride; but his pride is nothing to his wife’s: his is a quiet, indolent, gentlemanlike sort of pride that would harm nobody, and only make himself a little helpless and tiresome; but her pride is arrogance and insolence!"
— 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume II, chapter 18:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ employee never completed any tasks and spent hours doing nothing.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ cat spent the entire day sleeping on the sunny windowsill instead of catching mice.