idle synonyms

idle

modif.

  1. Unused or inactive

    unoccupied, unemployed, jobless, workless, laid-off, uncultivated, untilled, fallow, vacant, deserted, not in use, not in operation, waste, barren, void, empty, abandoned, still, quiet, motionless, resting, stagnant, dormant, inert, passive, dead, untouched, rusty, gathering dust, dusty, down, out of action, at loose ends, out of a job, out of harness*, on the bum*; see also unemployed, unused 1.

    Antonyms active*, busy*, engaged. *

  2. Empty

    pointless, baseless, rambling, vain; see futile 1, shallow 2, trivial.

  3. Lazy

    indolent, shiftless, slothful; see lazy 1. See syn. study at vain.

idle

v.

slack, shirk, while away time, loaf; see loaf 1, loiter. See syn. study at loiter.

Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.