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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

bone-idle en · ADJ

Pronunciation

Etymology

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.

Meanings

  1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, idiomatic, not-comparable) Utterly lazy.
    • For the last three weeks I have been going what you call bone-idle. 1836, Thomas Carlyle, New Letters:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
bone idle alternative lexicographic

Relateds

dead tired

Synonyms

swear · idle · otiose · work-shy · inert · bone-idle · lackadaisical · sluggish · slothful · indolent · swear · lither · lazy · lither · fainéant · torpid

Translations (7)

fr cossard (utterly lazy) · fi patalaiska (utterly lazy) · fr flemmard (utterly lazy) · mi māngere hōnia (utterly lazy) · fr fainéant (utterly lazy) · fr glandouilleur (utterly lazy) · fr oisif (utterly lazy)