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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of idleness
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
This patience is watchfulness, not idleness.
—Francois Botha, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
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
Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2026
This patience is watchfulness, not idleness.
—Francois Botha, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
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
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Over that first act, however, the film also resists much narrative or thematic momentum, unfolding in glimpses and vignettes meant to underscore inertia and to emphasize production design.—
Ben Croll,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
-
By inertia, some vestiges remain of the awful weeks in 2022 when enemy forces stood at the edge of Kyiv.—
Simon Shuster,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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At a time when Florida’s educator retention problem is harming students statewide, inaction is a choice that maintains a failing status quo.—
Andrew Spar,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 Feb. 2026
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But supporters of the bill, that passed committee on a party-line vote, say the cost of inaction is far greater.—
Shaun Boyd,
CBS News,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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State child welfare workers declined to open investigations into abuse or neglect in these instances, yet referred them to law enforcement anyway.—
Shoshana Walter,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
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Several cool props gestured to historical infrastructural neglect and botched Hurricane Maria recovery efforts.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Part of his great accomplishment was to take the European aesthetic of beauty and redefine it for the South, with its heat and its billboards, its indolence and humor and thick nights.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
24 Jan. 2026
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Some part of Baudelaire’s lifelong free-spending and indolence seems to be a direct rebellion against the man, if not outright Freudian jealousy—Charles was an unabashed mama’s boy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Rising physical inactivity, especially among young people, is colliding with escalating climate and nature risks.—
Sebastian Buckup,
Time,
7 Feb. 2026
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What struck me in the wake of the trade deadline and the Heat’s inactivity is that so few of the trade-deadline report cards even mentioned the Heat.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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And does a particular level of disuse have to be reached for a word to be dropped into the lexical dustbin?—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
22 Dec. 2025
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The term fell largely into disuse with the Axis powers’ defeat in 1945.—
Andrew Latham,
The Conversation,
8 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Some 64 years later, the development is officially coming down, following years of decay, neglect and abandonment.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
4 Feb. 2026
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The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the legislature should act on the report’s recommendations with actions to strengthen reporting, enforce existing laws, prevent further abandonment of wells and ensure polluters pay for cleanup.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Leisure bred laziness; coddling meant spoiling.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Pearce accused her of laziness.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Idleness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/idleness. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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