idly

adverb

ˈī-dᵊl-ē How to pronounce idly (audio)
ˈīd-lē
: in an idle manner: such as
a
: without much thought, effort or attention
idly staring out the window
idly flipping from one channel to another
Harry … doodled idly on his parchment ignoring Hermione's frequent glares and nudges …J. K. Rowling
b
: in a lazy or inactive manner or state
sat with her hands resting idly in her lap
spent the day lying idly on the couch
Barber left London the next day, and for six months sat idly in Addis Ababa waiting for something to happen.Waverly Root
c
: without taking any action
"The time has come to speak," she said. "I cannot stand idly by [=do nothing] and see a young man going to perdition!"P. G. Wodehouse
… a party who has been wronged by a breach of contract may not unreasonably sit idly by and allow damages to accumulate.John D. Calamari and Joseph M. Perillo

Examples of idly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web No Maryland parent would stand idly by as a predator peered through their child’s bedroom window or followed their kid to the park or mall after school, Kramer said while describing the bill to a state Senate committee last month. Katie Shepherd, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 Photographs and video from the streets around the U.N.'s headquarters where the summits were hosted show long lines of black SUVs both idly running their engines or moving in motorcades. Thomas Catenacci, Fox News, 21 Sep. 2023 With Taiwan’s sense of self and China’s expectations in conflict, Mr. Xi is not expected to sit idly by. Damien Cave, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2024 But a powerless display sitting idly in a room does not rise to such a level. Matthew Malec, National Review, 27 Dec. 2023 After being escorted from the car, the driver, 25-year-old Miguel Delacruz-Martinez, sat idly in the back of an ambulance, smiling sleepily, unharmed. Curbed, 6 Dec. 2023 The funding has also given the U.S. defense-industrial base a jolt in a way that standing idly by never would have. The Editors, National Review, 6 Dec. 2023 People will tune in, idly, reluctantly, with half an eye on something else. Rory Smith, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2023 These rivals, as well as Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, are not sitting idly by, with AWS going so far as to set up a team to answer queries from OpenAI customers, according to The Information. Phil Wahba, Fortune, 21 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'idly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of idly was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near idly

Cite this Entry

“Idly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idly. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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