Meaning & use
indolence
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Meaning
noununcountableformaldisapproving
A settled habit of avoiding work and effort, preferring to rest or do nothing.
Grammar: Not used with an or in the plural: his indolence, not an indolence.
Patterns
- sink into indolence
- indolence of someone
The manager blamed the project's failure on the indolence of the whole team.
After years of comfortable living, he slid into indolence and stopped looking for work.
Her indolence frustrated her parents, who wanted her to try at least once.
Common combinations
- sheer indolence
- He missed the deadline through sheer indolence, not any real difficulty.
- sink into indolence
- On long holidays the whole family tends to sink into indolence.
- accuse someone of indolence
- The editor accused the writer of indolence after three late articles.
- a life of indolence
- He inherited money and drifted into a life of indolence.
- habitual indolence
- Habitual indolence kept her from ever finishing a course.
Synonyms and how they differ
- laziness
- Laziness is the everyday word and can describe a single moment, while indolence sounds formal and suggests a lasting trait.
- idleness
- Idleness can simply mean having nothing to do, without blame, whereas indolence implies you could work but will not.
- sloth
- Sloth is stronger and older, often used in a moral or religious sense, as one of the seven deadly sins.
- lethargy
- Lethargy describes a heavy, drained lack of energy that may have a cause such as illness, rather than a choice to avoid effort.
Opposites
Word family
- indolent adjective
- unwilling to make an effort; lazy
- indolently adverb
- in a lazy, unhurried way
Commonly confused: indolence or insolence?
indolence vs insolence
Insolence means rude, disrespectful behavior, not laziness, though the two words look and sound similar.
Practice
Which sentence uses indolence correctly?
Choose one answer.
Indolence means a habit of avoiding effort, so leaving tasks undone fits. Rudeness is insolence, and training daily is the opposite of indolence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “indolence”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.