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# idleness

«idleness» in Mova's school dictionary: **being lazy and not working or doing anything useful** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (idleness; uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Idleness is being lazy and not working or doing anything useful. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#m1)

2) Idleness is also simply not being in use or not busy: a machine's idleness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, fables and sayings, idleness is shown as a fault: «Idleness is the root of all mischief». In ethics and church teaching, laziness (sloth) is one of the old list of sins. Phrases: «a life of idleness», «idle hands».

### examples

- The grasshopper spent the summer in idleness while the ants worked. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#x1)
- His idleness meant his homework never got done. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#x2)
- After weeks of idleness, the factory machines were rusty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#x3)
- A little idleness on a holiday can be nice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#x4)
- «Idle hands make mischief,» Grandma says. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#x5)
- Idleness made the long afternoon feel boring. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#x6)
- Idleness is a great sin, and I certainly don’t like any of my friends to be idle or sluggish. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/#x7)

### note

Uncountable. Adjective «idle», adverb «idly». Do not confuse «idle» with «idol» (a famous person you admire, or a statue worshipped). Resting is not idleness: everyone needs rest.

### In the corpora

- [She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.924/)
- [By slothfulness the rafters sink in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/ECC.205/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «idleness» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/idleness/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.