IDLENESS Synonyms: 67 Similar and Opposite Words

idleness

noun

Definition of idleness

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

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

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

Noun

The Torcal’s response on-center is deliberately somewhat muted, progressing as the driver turns the wheel, helping maintain the illusion that the Torcal’s mere inertia is sufficient to carry it through irregularities in the path ahead.

— Byron Hurd, The Drive, 27 Aug. 2026
The air temperature did not change much, probably due to the thermal inertia of the surrounding water.

— Joe Rao, Space.com, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of inertia

Noun

The organizations that waited on cybersecurity were more likely to find that the cost of inaction far exceeded the cost of preparation.

— Rhett Alden, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Evan Curbeam, 29, was found dead near Fells Point in 2013; his father publicly criticized the city’s inaction the following year.

— Joseph V. Sakran, Baltimore Sun, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of inaction

Noun

Both Walter and Lefever have pleaded not guilty to three counts of chronic neglect of a child causing great bodily harm and two counts of chronic neglect of a child causing emotional damage, his online records show.

— Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
Iron Jane follows Janie John (González), who after a childhood shaped by neglect and invisibility, is pulled into a world that finally sees her, where pain is power and bodies are built, not born.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of neglect

Noun

Months of inactivity allow microbes, algae, barnacles and other invertebrates to colonize submerged surfaces.

— Monica Sanders, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
By adolescence, physical inactivity is already common, with only 20-26% of teens reporting meeting physical activity guidelines.

— Sadiya S. Khan, Time, 16 Aug. 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

But that means in his own mind the abandonment and betrayal of his sense of identity as a tennis player who never gives up, who has staged so many comebacks.

— John Hopewell, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
The region’s leaders complained endlessly of feeling abandoned but never behaved as if abandonment were a significant possibility.

— MARC LYNCH, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of abandonment

Browse Nearby Words

idled

idleness

idler

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“Idleness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idleness. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of idleness

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