bone-idle

adjective

Utterly lazy.

Similar
litherswearfainéantidleindolentinertlackadaisicallazy
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivebone-idle (not comparable)

alternative bone idle

  1. CommonwealthIrelandUKidiomaticnot comparableUtterly lazy.

    For the last three weeks I have been going what you call bone-idle.

    1836, Thomas Carlyle, New Letters

    Synonyms: lither, swear, fainéant, idle, indolent, inert, lackadaisical, lazy

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveUtterly lazy.

Similar
litherswearfainéantidleindolentinertlackadaisicallazylitherotioseslothfulsluggishsweartorpidwork-shy

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveconstitutionally lazy or idle

Similar
bone-lazyidle
Also see
dullidleinertlackadaisicallazylitherotiosesluggishswear

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Laziness that penetrates the very bones. Attested 1836. Similar terms (bone-lazy, bone-sore, bone-tired) pre-dated it in The Vocabulary Of East Anglia, 1830, Robert Forby. Compare to the bone.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish patalaiska
  • patalaiskautterly lazy
French fainéant, cossard
  • fainéantutterly lazy
  • cossardutterly lazy
  • flemmardutterly lazy
  • glandouilleurutterly lazy
  • oisifutterly lazy
Māori māngere hōnia
  • māngere hōniautterly lazy
Cite this entry
APA

bone-idle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bone-idle

MLA

“bone-idle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bone-idle. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bone-idle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bone-idle.

Source: bone-idle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.