Meanings
- uncountableSheer indulgent relaxation and blissful laziness, the enjoyment of idleness.
1882, W. S. Gilbert, Iolanthe This gentleman is seen, / With a maid of seventeen, / A-taking of his dolce far niente; / And wonders he'd achieve, / For he asks us to believe / She's his mother—and he's nearly five-and-twenty!
1 more example
We should so organize our rank and mobilize our forces that our influence may not be dissipated before the advancing hosts of quackery and ignorance. This we can do effectively if only the wise and successful ones among our leaders can be induced to forgo the dolce far niente of the noontime of their lives.
1890, J.W. Collins, “Society proceedings of the Colorado State Medical Society”, in The Omaha Clinic, volume 3, number 5, retrieved 20 Mar 2021, page 131
Origin
- Italiandolce far niente
- Englishdolce far niente
Borrowed from Italian dolce far niente (literally “sweet doing nothing, sweet idleness”).
More words from Italian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دُولْتْشِي فَار نْيِنْتِي
- دُولْتْشِي فَار نْيِنْتِي (dūltšī fār nyintī)enjoyment of idleness
Chinese Mandarin 無所事事的快樂 /无所事事的快乐
- 無所事事的快樂 /无所事事的快乐 (wúsuǒshìshì de kuàilè)enjoyment of idleness
Dutch dolce far niente
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Estonian dolce far niente
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Finnish suloinen joutilaisuus
- suloinen joutilaisuusenjoyment of idleness
French farniente
- farnienteenjoyment of idleness
German süßes Nichtstun, Dolcefarniente
- süßes Nichtstunenjoyment of idleness
- Dolcefarnienteenjoyment of idleness
- Müßiggangenjoyment of idleness
Greek ντόλτσε φαρ νιέντε
- ντόλτσε φαρ νιέντε (ntóltse far niénte)enjoyment of idleness
Indonesian dolce far niente
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Italian dolce far niente
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Japanese 寝食い, 徒食
- 寝食い (negui)enjoyment of idleness
- 徒食 (toshoku)enjoyment of idleness
Korean 돌체 파르 니엔테, 도식
- 돌체 파르 니엔테 (dolche pareu niente)enjoyment of idleness
- 도식 (dosik)enjoyment of idleness
Norwegian Bokmål dolce far niente
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Polish błogie lenistwo
- błogie lenistwoenjoyment of idleness
Portuguese dolce far niente
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Romanian farniente
- farnienteenjoyment of idleness
Russian до́льче фар ние́нте
- до́льче фар ние́нте (dólʹče far nijénte)enjoyment of idleness
Spanish dolce far niente
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Swedish behaglig sysslolöshet, dolce far niente
- behaglig sysslolöshetenjoyment of idleness
- dolce far nienteenjoyment of idleness
Tamil மகிழ்ச்சியான சோம்பேறித்தனம், இன்ப ஓய்வு
- மகிழ்ச்சியான சோம்பேறித்தனம் (makiḻcciyāṉa cōmpēṟittaṉam)enjoyment of idleness
- இன்ப ஓய்வு (iṉpa ōyvu)enjoyment of idleness
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dolce far niente
All rhymes →Cite this entry
dolce far niente. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dolce%20far%20niente
“dolce far niente.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dolce%20far%20niente. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dolce far niente,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dolce%20far%20niente.
Source: dolce far niente on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.