Meanings
idly1
comparative more idly · superlative most idly · alternative obsolete idlely · alternative rare idlily
- Without specific purpose, intent or effort.
I idly played with the paper, not even realizing I was folding it into a paper airplane.
- In an idle manner.
idly2
plural idlies
- alternativeAlternative spelling of idli.
A Tamil breakfast starts with idly (steamed rice cakes) with sambhar (hot, spicy and sour lentils with vegetables) and rasams (broth of lentil, spiced) and upma (cooked course wheat), lunch is generally dosai (thin crepes), vadas (deep fried nuggets of lentils) with sambhar.
2010 September 27, KRISHNA GOPAL DUBEY, THE INDIAN CUISINE, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., →ISBN, page 246
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin an idle manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
idly · adverb
- Old Englishīdellīċe
- Middle Englishidely
- Englishidly
From Middle English idely, ydelly, idelliche, from Old English īdellīċe, equivalent to idle + -ly.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →idly · noun
- Kannadaಇಡ್ಲಿ
- Tamilஇட்லி
- Englishidly
From Tamil இட்லி (iṭli), Kannada ಇಡ್ಲಿ (iḍli).
More words from Tamil, Kannada
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto senokupe
- senokupein an idle manner
Hungarian szórakozottan, tétlenül
- szórakozottanwithout specific purpose, intent or effort
- tétlenülin an idle manner
Polish bezczynnie
- bezczynniein an idle manner
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
idly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idly
“idly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idly. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “idly,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/idly.
Source: idly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.