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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

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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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of idleness This isn't due to idleness, but often because workers finish tasks early, sometimes hours before the workday ends, especially with AI boosting efficiency. — Barnaby Lashbrooke, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 By all accounts, Katherine was a formidable presence—intellectually engaged, fluent in multiple languages, a guiding force in her children’s lives—and the painting honors that, depicting her reading rather than posing in decorative idleness. — Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Artforum, 6 Aug. 2026 Spending healthy years in idleness isn’t good for you. — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2026 DeJean, who recorded the game-changing pick-six in Super Bowl LIX, couldn’t comprehend postseason idleness. — Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2026 All of which could lead to so much work that a man like Wyatt Harper might never have another day of idleness again. — Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for idleness
  1. inertia
  2. inaction
  3. neglect
  4. indolence
  5. inactivity
  6. disuse
  7. inertness
  8. abandonment
Noun
  • For more than two decades, bad science and bureaucratic inertia have resulted in women and physicians having an incomplete view of HRT.
    — Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Every organization has a project running on pure inertia that everyone quietly knows should die.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of inertia
Noun
  • The president’s confusion and inaction pose an immediate risk of slamming shut our small window of opportunity to make meaningful decisions about a technology that will almost certainly change the course of history and humanity.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
  • And while suspension can imply inaction, Agada views it instead as a state of change; a space where instability and possibility can coexist.
    — Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of inaction
Noun
  • After all, people today eat hard candy, open bottles with their teeth, neglect to brush and floss.
    — Pien Huang, NPR, 19 Sep. 2026
  • On social media and in legal filings, animal advocates complain that the 50-block zone in downtown Los Angeles that’s home to thousands of unhoused people is an epicenter of animal neglect and cruelty.
    — Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of neglect
Noun
  • Although a genius at depicting indolence, Hockney himself worked with a rigorous commitment.
    — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 16 June 2026
  • The rapid growth of AI data centers is simply forcing us to reckon with many years of indolence.
    — Big Think, Big Think, 22 Apr. 2026
Definition of indolence
Noun
  • If there was any rust on the outfit from nine years of inactivity, it was knocked off the instant the song’s trademark chiming riff gave way to the thwack of Lynch’s snare drum, bringing the band to life.
    — Adam Gold, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Realistically, a week of inactivity is probably the best thing for Flowers.
    — Andy Behrens, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of inactivity
Noun
  • Built into a natural ravine, the stadium’s site was used for ancient Greek athletic contests and later Roman spectacles before falling into centuries of disuse.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
  • So long as effective communication persists, the reflex to mourn the disuse of a language can be motivated only by something else—nostalgia or, perhaps, the loss of a group’s ability to easily demarcate itself.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of disuse
Noun
  • So a material known for its inertness suddenly shows its true colors and starts to react and act as a catalyst.
    — Chris Lee, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026
Definition of inertness
Noun
  • Many have described him as deeply insecure, haunted by fears of abandonment that trace back to the earliest chapters of his life.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 Sep. 2026
  • This summer, when wildfires erupted in Spain, France, and other parts of Europe, experts cited land abandonment as a factor.
    — Ingfei Chen, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of abandonment

Browse Nearby Words

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 26 Sep. 2026.

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