idleness

noun

Definition of idlenessnext
1
as in inertia
an inclination not to do work or engage in activities the brothers' innate idleness meant that neither did much, either inside or outside their ramshackle cabin

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in inaction
lack of action or activity a day spent in idleness is nice, but a month of doing nothing is boring!

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in neglect
lack of use the idleness of the machine was apparent by its thick layer of dust

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for idleness
  1. inertia
  2. inaction
  3. neglect
  4. indolence
  5. disuse
  6. abandonment
Noun
  • However, as the technology advances, significant challenges remain, from adversarial AI to the cultural inertia of legacy systems.
    Tony Bradley, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Try to speed up before and use that inertia to carry you up.
    Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Jan. 2025
Definition of inertia
Noun
  • Franklin expressed that the Quorum Court members are aware of their duties and the potential consequences of inaction.
    Eplunus Colvin, arkansasonline.com, 3 Jan. 2025
  • Empowering democratic forces early on can prevent the rise of extremist alternatives, reducing the long-term costs of inaction.
    Paul du Quenoy, Newsweek, 31 Dec. 2024
Definition of inaction
Noun
  • That dynamic, the news organization found, has resulted in fraud, abuse and neglect of the state’s most vulnerable.
    Jake Pearson, ProPublica, 15 Jan. 2025
  • The average student Oakmont teaches has had multiple adverse childhood experiences, serious traumas ranging from abuse and neglect to seeing their parents incarcerated or die to family drug addiction or other forms of instability.
    Michael McShane, Forbes, 15 Jan. 2025
Definition of neglect
Noun
  • The United States, however, has lost its capacity for self-government through stupendous intellectual indolence and the exaltation of puerilities, like Tayor Swift or Tom Brady, over thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, and Montaigne.
    Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 23 June 2024
  • If slouching among privileged white Americans could indicate an enviable carelessness, it was seen as proof of indolence when adopted by the disadvantaged.
    Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Definition of indolence
Noun
  • And devotion, for the male anglerfish, means gripping on with his teeth to her underside until their bodies fuse together, his eyes fall into disuse, and their bloodstreams become one.
    Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2024
  • The nation’s highest court has never ruled on Section 3, which fell into disuse after the 1870s, when most former Confederates were allowed back into government by congressional action.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2024
Definition of disuse
Noun
  • Look no further than the abandonment of computer ranking systems of the BCS era in favor of the all-human selection committee of the College Football Playoff.
    Giovanni Malloy, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
  • Theunissen also previously pleaded guilty to animal abandonment in 2018 after allegedly leaving his chocolate Lab alone in a cage in his apartment when he was evicted in 2017.
    Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 3 Jan. 2025
Definition of abandonment
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near idleness

idled

idleness

idler

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Cite this Entry

“Idleness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idleness. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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More from Merriam-Webster on idleness

Nglish: Translation of idleness for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of idleness for Arabic Speakers

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