do-nothingness

noun

Inactivity; habitual sloth; idleness.

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Meanings

noundo-nothingness (uncountable)
  1. uncountableInactivity; habitual sloth; idleness.

    Her disposition was naturally easy and indolent, like Lady Bertram's; and a situation of similar affluence and do-nothing-ness, would have been much more suited to her capacity, than the exertions and self-denials of the one, which her imprudent marriage had placed her in.

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 172

Origin

From do-nothing + -ness.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

do-nothingness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do-nothingness

MLA

“do-nothingness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do-nothingness. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “do-nothingness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do-nothingness.

Source: do-nothingness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.