Synonyms of idles

idles

verb

present tense third-person singular of idle

as in lazes

to spend time doing nothing

she likes to idle during the summer and recharge herself for the fall semester

we idled away the evening relaxing around the campfire

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lazes
• dawdles
• rests
• relaxes
• strolls
• lolls
• plays
• loafs
• chills
• lounges
• mucks
• bums
• lingers
• dallies
• pokes
• goofs (off)
• hangs (around or out)
• lazies
• kicks back
• drones
• kills time
• hacks (around)
• hibernates
• hangs about
• loiters
• dillydallies
• footles
• lags
• ambles
• twiddles one's thumbs
• messes
• vegges out
• saunters
• moseys
• piddles
• dozes
• fools
• kicks around
• tarries
• estivates
• monkeys
• trifles
• putters (around)
• potters (around)
• fiddles (around)
• malingers
• goldbricks
• swans
• truants
• furloughs

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• works
• grinds
• slaves
• plods
• plugs
• plows
• labors
• sweats
• toils
• hustles
• pegs
• humps
• applies
• grubs
• drudges
• buckles (down)
• exerts
• moils
• travails
• puts out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of idles

As your car idles, warm air blown from the top of your dashboard will melt the ice on the outside of the windshield. — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 27 Dec. 2025

Security camera footage shows a black vehicle park in front of Café Bernardo, a restaurant, and idles for about two minutes. — Madisen Keavy, CBS News, 17 Dec. 2025

The high-output Arco Zeus alternator cuts recharge time in half compared to earlier models and can charge the battery bank even while the Sprinter engine idles. — Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 26 Nov. 2025

The film just idles on the runway. — Tim Grierson, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2025

As our car idles, Lucas Nascimento Morgado, a young biologist who works for a jaguar NGO called Onçafari here in the southern Brazilian Pantanal, grins giddily. — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Aug. 2025