Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The condition of being idle, in any sense of that word; inactivity; slothfulness; uselessness; unprofitableness; worthlessness; foolishness.
 - noun   Synonyms See 
idle . 
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The condition or quality of being idle (in the various senses of that word); uselessness; fruitlessness; triviality; inactivity; laziness.
 
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun   The state of being 
idle ;inactivity . - noun   The state of being 
indolent ;indolence  - noun   
Groundlessness ;worthlessness ;triviality . 
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the quality of lacking substance or value
 - noun the trait of being idle out of a reluctance to work
 - noun having no employment
 
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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They may produce what they call idleness now, and a great deal of vexation and suffering.
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society
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There we all clambered out to stretch cramped muscles and make a fire to cook the hippo's tongue, Coutlass cursing us for letting what he called idleness come between us and revenge.
The Ivory Trail Mundy, Talbot, 1879-1940 1920
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There we all clambered out to stretch cramped muscles and make a fire to cook the hippo's tongue, Coutlass cursing us for letting what he called idleness come between us and revenge.
The Ivory Trail Talbot Mundy 1909
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There is a grossness in the conceptions of my countrymen; they will not be convinced that any good thing may consist with what they call idleness; they can anticipate nothing but evil of a young man who neither studies physic, law, nor gospel, nor opens a store, nor takes to farming, but manifests an incomprehensible disposition to be satisfied with what his father left him.
Nathaniel Hawthorne Woodberry, George E 1902
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There is a grossness in the conceptions of my countrymen; they will not be convinced that any good thing may consist with what they call idleness; they can anticipate nothing but evil of a young man who neither studies physic, law, nor gospel, nor opens a store, nor takes to farming, but manifests an incomprehensible disposition to be satisfied with what his father left him.
Nathaniel Hawthorne George Edward Woodberry 1892
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There is a grossness in the conceptions of my countrymen; they will not be convinced that any good thing may consist with what they call idleness; they can anticipate nothing but evil of a young man who neither studies physic, law, nor gospel, nor opens a store, nor takes to farming, but manifests an incomprehensible disposition to be satisfied with what his father left him.
Passages from a Relinquised Work (From "Mosses from an Old Manse") Nathaniel Hawthorne 1834
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In other words, no individual should be wasted in idleness if they wish to be employed into the safety net program.
Pavlina R. Tcherneva: Women Want Jobs, Not Handouts Pavlina R. Tcherneva 2010
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In other words, no individual should be wasted in idleness if they wish to be employed into the safety net program.
Pavlina R. Tcherneva: Women Want Jobs, Not Handouts Pavlina R. Tcherneva 2010
 - 
								
In other words, no individual should be wasted in idleness if they wish to be employed into the safety net program.
Pavlina R. Tcherneva: Women Want Jobs, Not Handouts Pavlina R. Tcherneva 2010
 - 
								
In other words, no individual should be wasted in idleness if they wish to be employed into the safety net program.
Pavlina R. Tcherneva: Women Want Jobs, Not Handouts Pavlina R. Tcherneva 2010
 
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