Idleness

Definitions: Idleness

Idleness

Noun

1. Having no employment.

2. The trait of being idle out of a reluctance to work.

Date "idleness" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references)

Domain	Definitions
Satire	IDLENESS, n. A model farm where the devil experiments with seeds of new sins and promotes the growth of staple vices. Source: Devil's Dictionary.
Literature	Idleness The Lake of Idleness. Spenser says whoever drank of this lake grew "instantly faint and weary." The Red Cross Knight drank of it, and was made captive by Orgoglio. (Spenser: Fa�rie Queene, book i.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Idleness

Synonyms: faineance (n), idling (n), loafing (n). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Inactivity	Take it easy, take things as they come; lead an easy life, vegetate, swim with the stream, eat the bread of idleness; loll in the lap of luxury, loll in the lap of indolence; waste time, consume time, kill time, lose time; burn daylight, waste the precious hours.
	Idleness, remissness; Adjective: sloth, indolence, indiligence; dawdling; Verb: ergophobia, otiosity.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Idleness

English words defined with "idleness": carpet knight, Cocagne, Cockaigne ♦ dolce far niente, Do-nothingness ♦ Forslack, Forslugge ♦ Idlesse ♦ Lorette ♦ Otiosity ♦ Slack hand, Slewth ♦ To fool away, Truantly, Truantship ♦ Unservice ♦ Vagabondize. (references)

Specialty definitions using "idleness": Academy ♦ Convent, Counter ♦ Fisher of Souls ♦ Idle ♦ Jumping-jack ♦ Lazyland, Lotus-eaters, Lucifera ♦ Paridel ♦ Ripaille ♦ Shepherd, St. Lundi. (references)

Etymologies containing "idleness": inertia ♦ Slewth ♦ Unservice. (references)

Domain	Usage
Clever	Let us be grateful to Adam, our benefactor. He cut us out of the ''blessing'' of idleness and won for us the ''curse'' of labor. (references; author: Mark Twain)
Movie/TV Titles	My Lady of Idleness (1913)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Essays in Idleness (reference) Grass in Idleness [LARGE PRINT] (reference) Idleness Is the Root of All Love (reference) Idleness, Water, and a Canoe: Reflection on Paddling for Pleasure (reference) In Praise of Idleness (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Author	Quotation
Benjamin Franklin	Trouble springs from idleness, and grievous toil from needless ease.
	Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and governments.
Friedrich Nietzsche	Idleness is the parent of psychology.
Ovid	Remove the temptation of idleness and cupids bow is useless.
Philip Stanhope	Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds.
Robert Burton	Idleness is an appendix to nobility.
Samuel Butler	Work with some men is as besetting a sin as idleness.
Thomas Carlyle	Writing is a dreadful labor, yet not so dreadful as Idleness.
William Wordsworth	A day spent in a round of strenuous idleness.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Author	Date	Quotation
Communist Manifesto	1848	According to this, bourgeois society ought long ago to have gone to the dogs through sheer idleness; for those of its members who work, acquire nothing, and those who acquire anything, do not work. (reference)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Title	Author	Quote
Les Miserables	Hugo, Victor	Idleness and misery were unknown.
Walden	Thoreau, Henry David	But labor of the hands, even when pursued to the verge of drudgery, is perhaps never the worst form of idleness.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Lexicography	Devil's Dictionary	CONVENT, n. A place of retirement for woman who wish for leisure to meditate upon the vice of idleness.
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
Lyndon B. Johnson	1963-1969	But far too many are still trapped in poverty and idleness and fear.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

"Idleness" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.30% of the time. "Idleness" is used about 143 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	99.3%	142	26,554
Noun (plural)	0.7%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	143	N/A

Expression using "idleness": idleness is the parent of all evils. Additional references.
Hypenated Usage
	Ending with "idleness": love-in-idleness, near-idleness, retirement-idleness, semi-idleness.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "idleness"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		plogështi (angularity, apathy, inaction, indolence, inertia, languor, lassitude, phlegm, sloth, tardiness, torpor), papunësi (inaction, inactivity, unemployment), përtaci (idle, idling, indolence, inoccupation, laziness, slack, sloth). (various references)

Arabic		‏فراغ (air, blank, completion, emptiness, finishing, free time, gap, inane, inanity, leisure, nothingness, space, spare time, vacancy, vacuity, vacuum, void), ‏كسل (drowse, inaction, inactivity, indolence, inertia, languor, lassitude, laziness, lethargy, sloth, slothful, sluggard, sluggishness), ‏تعطل (breakdown, conk, fall due on, give out, heave to, inactivity, jam, pack, paralysis, spoil), ‏تبطل (inaction), ‏بطالة (vac). (various references)

Bulgarian		мързел (indolence, laziness, sloth), леност (indolence, inertia, sloth), безполезност (disutility, futility, inefficiency, inutility, vanity), бездействие (inaction, inactivity, inertness, quiescence, quiescency, stagnancy, stagnation, vacancy), безделие (indolence, laziness, vacancy), празнота (blankness, chasm, emptiness, sketchiness, vacancy, vacuity, vacuum, vanity, void). (various references)

Chinese		� 惰 , �'惰 (IDLE, laziness, lazy). (various references)

Czech		zahálka (Mike), zahálèivost (inactivity), nezamìstnanost (unemployment), neèinnost (inaction, inactivity, inertia, vacancy). (various references)

Finnish		toimettomuus (inactivity), laiskuus (laziness). (various references)

French		paresse, oisiveté, fainéantise, chômage. (various references)

German		faulheit (laziness, sloth, slothfulness). (various references)

Greek		αργία (holiday, legal holiday, otioseness, statutory holiday, vacation), ανεργία (anallergy, anergy, unemployment), απραξία (deadlock, inaction, inactivity). (various references)

Hebrew		עצל�" (laziness, sloth), חבוק י�"ים (indolence, laziness, sitting with folded arms), �"תעצלות (laziness), בטיל�" (unemployment), בטל�" (laziness, negligence, unemployment), בטל� ות. (various references)

Hungarian		semmittevés (droning, slack). (various references)

Indonesian		kemalasan. (various references)

Italian		inutilit� (futility, inutility, nothingness, uselessness, wantonness), indolenza (indolence, laziness, painlessness, sloth, slothfulness, slowness, sluggishness), pigrizia (laziness, sloth, slothfulness), ozio (laziness, leisure, sloth), disoccupazione (joblessness, unemployment). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		� 惰 (laziness). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		たい� (laziness), ふべ�"きょう (lack of application, lazy study habits), ふと�"ろで (with hands in pockets), �"ろ�"ろ (purring, scatter, thunder), あ�"いつ (ease, indolence), むい (inactivity, lacking rank, ordinary, unintentional), としょく (idle life). (various references)

Korean		나태. (various references)

Manx		soaillaght (indolence, slothfulness, sumpuousness), litcherys (indolence, inertia, slothfulness), litcheraght (indolence), lhiastid (diffidence, inaction, inactivity, indisposition, indolence, languidness, languor, lassitude, laziness, reluctance, sloth, slowness, sluggishness), lag-laueys. (various references)

Norwegian		lediggang, dovenskap (laziness). (various references)

Pig Latin		idlenessay.(various references)

Portuguese		inatividade (doldrums, idling, inactive, inactivity, inertness, kaif, Kef, keif, kief), preguiça (ai, heavy, laziness, lubberly, sloth), perturbar o entendimento (be fuddled), ociosidade (absenteeism, dawdle, lounge, otioseness, sloth, trifling, truancy, vagrancy), futilidade (banality, frivolous, futility, gewgaw, moonshine, trifle, trifling), frivolidade (falderal, fribble, frivolity, futility, giddiness, levity, light hearted, lightness, non essential, trifle, trifling). (various references)

Romanian		inutilitate (futility, hopelessness, needlessness, nugacity, pointlessness, uselessness, vanity), indolenţã (carelessness, indolence, sloth), inactivitate (drift, inactivity, vacancy), trândãvie (idling, laziness, lounge, sloth), perdere de vreme, lene (dullness, inaction, languor, laziness, sloth). (various references)

Russian		безделье (idling, inoccupation, keif, kief), праздность (ease, indolence, otioseness, otiosity). (various references)

Scottish		dìomhanas (idleness : an dìomhanas, vanity). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		dosada (boredom, dullness, ennui, heretofore, hitherto, humdrum, monotony, tedium), dokonost (otioseness, otiosity), besposlica. (various references)

Spanish		ociosidad. (various references)

Swedish		sysslolöshet (idly, inoccupation, play), lättja (laziness, sloth), dagdriveri (loafing). (various references)

Thai		ความเกียจคร้าน (laziness). (various references)

Turkish		tembellik (dalliance, dilatoriness, inaction, inactivity, indolence, inertia, laziness, slackness, sloth, sluggishness, stagnancy, stagnation, vacancy), haylazlık (devilment, mischief), gereksizlik (being unnecessary, indecency, inexpediency, needlessness), boşluk (abysm, abyss, antrum, backlash, blank, blankness, cavity, chamber, chasm, clear, clearance, daylight, desideratum, emptiness, gap, gulf, hiatus, hole, hollow, hollowness, inanition, Lacuna, nothingness, nullity, separation, sinus, slack, slackness, space, vacancy, vacuity, vacuum, void, voidness), başıboşluk (anarchy, errantry), aylaklık (vagabondage, vagabondism), avarelik (vagrancy). (various references)

Turkmen		яaltalyk (laziness, stillness). (various references)

Ukranian		неробство (idling, indolence), некорисність (needlessness), ледарство (laziness). (various references)

Vietnamese		sự vu vơ (idlesse), sự vẩn vơ (idlesse), sự vô hiệu quả (idlesse), sự lười nhác tình trạng không công ăn việc l� m (idlesse), sự không tác dụng sự không đâu (idlesse), sự không căn cứ (groundlessness, idlesse), ăn không ng�"i r�"i (idle, idlesse, loose). (various references)

Welsh		seguryd, segurdod. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	ignavia, inertia, nequitia, nequitiae, nequitiam, nequitias, situs. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Language	Date	Source	Proverbs Chapter 31, Verse 27
Greek (transliterated)	250 BC	Septuagint	Stegnai diatribai oikwn authV sita de oknhra ouk efagen
Latin	405	Vulgate	Sade considerat semitas domus suae et panem otiosa non comedet
Middle English	1395	Wyclif	She beheeld the pathis of hir hous; and idil bred she eet not.
Jacobean English	1611	King James	She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Victorian English	1833	Webster	She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Basic English	1964	Ogden	She gives attention to the ways of her family, she does not take her food without working for it.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language	Proverbs Chapter 31, Verse 27
Bulgarian	�"обре внимава в управлението на дома си, И хляб на леност не яде.
Cebuano	Siya nagasud-ong ug maayo sa mga paagi sa iyang sulod-balay, Ug dili mokaon sa tinapay sa pagkatapulan.
Chinese	他觀察家務、並不喫 �' 飯。
Croatian	Na vladanje pazi ukuæana i ne jede kruha besposlice.
Danish	Hun våger over Husets Gænge og spiser ej Ladheds Brød.
Dutch	Tsade. Zij beschouwt de gangen van haar huis; en het brood der luiheid eet zij niet.
Finnish	Hän tarkkaa talonsa menoa, eikä hän laiskan leipää syö.
French	Elle veille sur ce qui se passe dans sa maison, Et elle ne mange pas le pain de paresse.
German	Sie schaut, wie es in ihrem Hause zugeht, und ißt ihr Brot nicht mit Faulheit.
Haitian Creole	Li konnen vire tounen tout moun nan kay la. Li toujou gen yon bagay l'ap fè.
Hungarian	Vigyáz a házanépe dolgára, és restségnek étkét nem eszi.
Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari	Ia selalu rajin bekerja dan memperhatikan urusan rumah tangganya.
Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama	Maka diamat-amatinya kelakuan segala isi rumahnya, dan tiada ia makan rezeki dengan malas.
Italian	Sorveglia l'andamento della casa; il pane che mangia non è frutto di pigrizia.
Korean	그 집 안 일 을 보 살 �"� � 게 을 리 얻 은 양 식 을 먹 지 아 니 하 나 니
Maori	Ka ata tirohia e ia nga ara o tona whare, e kore ano ia e kai i te taro o te mangere.
Modern Greek	Επαγρυπνει εις την κυβερνησιν του οικου αυτης και αρτον οκνηριας δεν τρωγει.
Norwegian	Hun holder øie med hvorledes det går til i hennes hus, og dovenskaps brød eter hun ikke.
Portuguese	Tsadê. Olha pelo governo de sua casa, e não come o pão da preguiça.
Rumanian	Ea vegheazq asupra celor ce se petrec kn casa ei, wi nu mqnkncq pknea lenevirii.
Russian	пОБ ОБ�'МА�"БЕФ ЪБ ИПЪСКУФЧПН Ч �"ПНЕ УЧПЕН Й ОЕ ЕУФ ИМЕ�'Б � ТБЪ�"ОПУФЙ.
Spanish	Considera la marcha de su casa y no come pan de ociosidad.
Swedish	Hon vakar över ordningen i sitt hus och äter ej i lättja sitt bröd.
Thai	เธอ�"ูแลการงานในครัวเรือนของเธอ และไม่รับประทานอาหารแห่งความเกียจคร้าน
Ukrainian	�"огляда�" вона ходи дому свого, і хліба з лінивства не їсть.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "idleness": idlenesses. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Idleness" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Girdleness, idelnes, idelness, Idiens, idlenesse, middleness. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "idleness" (pronounced ī"dulnus)
5	-u l n u s	awfulness, casualness, fickleness, forcefulness, gentleness, harmfulness, hopefulness, peacefulness, playfulness, resourcefulness, thoughtfulness, truthfulness, usefulness, wastefulness, wistfulness, wonderfulness.
4	-l n u s	coolness, dullness, foulness, fullness, illness, reasonableness, smallness, stillness, wellness, wholeness.
3	-n u s	abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, airworthiness, alertness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, arbitrariness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, bagginess, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, callousness, calmness, carelessness, cautiousness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanliness, cleanness, cleverness, closeness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, contrariness, Conus, correctness, coziness, craziness, creativeness, creditworthiness, creepiness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deadliness, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, disingenuousness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, drunkenness, dryness, eagerness, earnestness, edginess, effectiveness, elusiveness, emptiness, evenness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forgiveness, forthrightness, fractiousness, frankness, freshness, friendliness, frothiness, funniness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, genuineness, genus, ghastliness, gluttonous, goodness, governess, graciousness, greatness, greenness, grimness, hairiness, handedness, happiness, hardness, harness, harshness, heinous, helplessness, highness, hoarseness, holiness, homelessness, homesickness, homogenous, hopelessness, humanness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, joblessness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, lawlessness, laziness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nastiness, nearsightedness, neatness, nervousness, newness, niceness, niggardliness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nosiness, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, orderliness, otherness, outrageousness, outspokenness, pandanus, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, pettiness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, pompousness, possessiveness, powerlessness, preparedness, queasiness, quickness, quietness, raciness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, readiness, rebelliousness, recklessness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, responsiveness, restiveness, restlessness, restrictiveness, richness, righteousness, rightness, riskiness, robustness, roominess, roughness, rowdiness, rudeness, ruinous, ruthlessness, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, scantiness, secretiveness, selfishness, selflessness, sensitiveness, separateness, seriousness, shakiness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, silliness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smoothness, smugness, softness, solitariness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steadiness, steepness, sternness, stiffness, stinginess, stoutness, strangeness, stubbornness, sturdiness, suddenness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tardiness, tartness, tastiness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, tightness, timeliness, tiredness, togetherness, toughness, trustworthiness, ugliness, unconsciousness, uneasiness, unfairness, unhappiness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwieldiness, unwillingness, vagueness, vastness, venous, viciousness, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wariness, waterishness, weakness, weariness, weightlessness, weirdness, wetness, whiteness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wimpiness, witness, worldliness, worthiness, wryness.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Direct Anagrams: linseeds.
	Words within the letters "d-e-e-i-l-n-s-s"
	-1 letter: diesels, endless, enisled, enisles, ensiled, ensiles, idlesse, linseed, seidels, seniles.
	-2 letters: denies, dienes, diesel, dieses, ediles, elides, enisle, ensile, lensed, lenses, lessen, sedile, seidel, seined, seines, seised, senile, sensed, sidles, slides.
	-3 letters: deils, deles, delis, denes, dense, diene, dines, edile, elide, idles, isled, isles, lends, lenes, lenis, lense, liens, lined, lines, needs, nides, seeds, seels, seine, seise, sends, sense, sides, sidle, silds, sines, sleds, slide, sneds, snide.
	-4 letters: dees, deil, dele, deli, dels, dene, deni, dens, diel, dies, dine, dins, diss, eels, eide, elds, else, ends, eses, ides, idle, isle, lees, leis, lend, lens, less, lids, lied, lien, lies, line, lins, need, ness, nide, nils, seed, seel, seen, sees, seis, sels, send, sene, side, sild, sine, sins, sled, slid, sned.
	-5 letters: dee, del, den, die, din, dis, eds, eel, eld, els, end, ens, ess, ids, ins, led, lee, lei, lid, lie, lin, lis, nee, nil, see, sei, sel, sen, sin, sis.
	Words containing the letters "d-e-e-i-l-n-s-s"
	+1 letter: seedlings, selenides, sidelines.
	+2 letters: deadliness, dieselings, diluteness, dinnerless, edibleness, eledoisins, friendless, idlenesses, mildnesses, sideliners, wilderness, wildnesses.
	+3 letters: blindnesses, dailinesses, declensions, desalinates, desalinizes, detasseling, disentitles, dispensable, disseminule, distensible, elderliness, fieldstones, fluidnesses, godlikeness, godlinesses, limitedness, lividnesses, lucidnesses, luridnesses, lysogenised, moldinesses, nucleosides, orderliness, sensualized, slenderizes, slickenside, solidnesses, splendidest, stiltedness, sublicensed.
	+4 letters: bloodinesses, candlefishes, cladogenesis, cloudinesses, deadlinesses, delicatessen, delusiveness, depressingly, despoilments, detailedness, detasselling, devilishness, dilutenesses, disablements, disentangles, dismalnesses, disseminules, dividendless, ediblenesses, floridnesses, friendliness, kindlinesses, limpidnesses, liquidnesses, lopsidedness, lordlinesses, maidenliness, mindlessness, needlefishes, pallidnesses, personalised, placidnesses, pridefulness, skeletonised, slickensides, spellbinders, splendidness, undesirables, unwieldiness, voidableness, wildernesses.
	+5 letters: admirableness, advisableness, childlessness, childlikeness, comradeliness, considerables, cordialnesses, darlingnesses, deceitfulness, deescalations, delicatessens, deliciousness, delightedness, deliriousness, demolishments, desirableness, desultoriness, dimensionless, directionless, dislodgements, displacements, dissoluteness, dollishnesses, doltishnesses, dutifulnesses, elderlinesses, essentialized, godlikenesses, identicalness, indigestibles, indispensable, languidnesses, limitednesses, melodiousness, mindfulnesses, misknowledges, nucleotidases, orderlinesses, prednisolones, radicalnesses, sexdecillions, splendiferous, squalidnesses, stiltednesses, undersupplies, unestablished, ungodlinesses, worldlinesses.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.