Idle vs Listless - What's the difference?
idle | listless | Related terms |
(lb) Empty, vacant.
Not turned to appropriate use; not occupied.
:
Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing.
:
*
*:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.
:
*
*:“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle , brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,!”
Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
:
(lb) Light-headed; foolish.
:(Ford)
To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.
* 1939 , Joan Evans, Chateaubriand (page 32)
Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.
Lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.
* 1818 , , Frankenstein , ch. 18:
* 1861 , , The Stokesley Secret , ch. 6:
* 1901 , , The Hero , ch. 21:
* 2005 Nov. 29, Aryn Baker, "
Idle is a related term of listless.
As adjectives the difference between idle and listless
is that idle is (lb) empty, vacant while listless is lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.As a verb idle
is to spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.idle
English
(wikipedia idle)Adjective
(en adjective)Derived terms
* idle hands are the devil's workshop * idle pulley * idle wheelSynonyms
* See alsoVerb
(idl)- to idle in an IRC channel
- He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo
References
* *Anagrams
* * *listless
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- I passed whole days on the lake alone in a little boat, watching the clouds and listening to the rippling of the waves, silent and listless .
- What an entirely different set of beings were those Stokesley children in lesson-time. . . . Poor, listless , stolid, deplorable logs, with bowed backs and crossed ankles, pipy voices and heavy eyes!
- The scene with Mrs. Wallace had broken his spirit, and he was listless now, indifferent to what happened.
John Hardy: Bali Guy," Time :
- “Listless , inattentive, distracted,” he recited. “A daydreamer. Tries his best, but is too slow.”