Dictionary

otiose en · ADJ

Pronunciation

(Southern-England) audio
(US, rare) audio
/ˈoʊ.ʃi.oʊs/ (General-American)
(Received-Pronunciation)
/ˈəʊ.ʃi.əʊs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(US, rare) audio
(General-American)

Etymology

From Latin ōtiōsus (“idle”), from ōtium (“ease”).

Meanings

Having no effect.
- The most eminent jurists have not even yet decided on a satisfactory definition of piracy. […] One school holds that it is any felony committed on the High Seas. But that does little except render a separate term otiose. Moreover, it is not accepted by other schools of thought. 1929, Richard Hughes, A High Wind in Jamaica:
Done in a careless or perfunctory manner.
- It may seem otiose thus to have re-examined the elements of a distant controversy. I have sought only to indicate that there are several perfectly respectable reasons why British opinion should have been so utterly bewildered between 1793 and 1783. Such an examination, even if it manages not to cause offense, is bound itself to become confused and to reflect the cloudy muddle of the period. It is preferable therefore to elucidate the conflict by describing its changing effects on a single individual. 1961, Harold Nicolson, “Thirteen Colonies”, in The Age Of Reason (non-fiction), Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., →LCCN, page 203:
Reluctant to work or to exert oneself.
- Pemulis, w/ aid of 150mg. of time-release Tenuate Dospan, almost danced a little post-transaction jig on his way up the steps of the otiose Cambridge bus. 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 216:
Of a person, possessing a bored indolence.
Having no reason for being (raison d’être); having no point, reason, or purpose.
- Neither the fact that the debates can become otiose, nor their zeal in so often simply echoing the points made in the past, need, however, lead one to suppose that the proper cure is silence. 1969, G. R. Elton, The Practice of History:
- On Friday morning, I had to be at my house affairs before seven; and they kept me in Apia till past ten, disputing, and consulting about brick and stone and native and hydraulic lime, and cement and sand, and all sorts of otiose details about the chimney – just what I fled from in my father’s office twenty years ago; 1895, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 3, in Vailima Letters:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
most otiose	Degree=Sup		lexicographic
more otiose	Degree=Cmp		lexicographic

Translations (57)

ja むだな (resulting in no effect) · hu hasztalan (resulting in no effect) · ru тще́тный (resulting in no effect) · nl overbodig (having no reason or purpose) · fr inutile (resulting in no effect) · hu felesleges (resulting in no effect) · ru бесце́льный (having no reason or purpose) · hu dologtalan (reluctant to work) · fi toimeton (reluctant to work) · pl leniwy (reluctant to work) · ru беспло́дный (resulting in no effect) · pl bezprzedmiotowy (having no reason or purpose) · ru пра́здный (reluctant to work) · pl zbyteczny (having no reason or purpose) · nl lui (reluctant to work) · fr oisif (reluctant to work) · bg безполезен (resulting in no effect) · hu hiábavaló (resulting in no effect) · es inútil (resulting in no effect) · nl zinloos (having no reason or purpose) · ru нену́жный (resulting in no effect) · cs bezvýznamný (having no reason or purpose) · ja 余計な (having no reason or purpose) · de zwecklos (having no reason or purpose) · pl niepotrzebny (resulting in no effect) · ru бесполе́зный (resulting in no effect) · hu semmittevő (reluctant to work) · es desocupado (reluctant to work) · ka უაზრო (having no reason or purpose) · fi tarpeeton (resulting in no effect) · it ozioso (reluctant to work) · ka ზარმაცი (reluctant to work) · es ocioso (reluctant to work) · ru напра́сный (resulting in no effect) · ko 헛된 (resulting in no effect) · ru лени́вый (reluctant to work) · de müßig (reluctant to work) · it vano (resulting in no effect) · ka ამაო (resulting in no effect) · pl niepotrzebny (having no reason or purpose) · it inutile (resulting in no effect) · bg ненужен (having no reason or purpose) · ka ფუჭი (resulting in no effect) · hu céltalan (having no reason or purpose) · fi hyödytön (resulting in no effect) · cs bezvýznamný (resulting in no effect) · de fruchtlos (resulting in no effect) · de vergeblich (resulting in no effect) · fi joutilas (reluctant to work) · ja 無用な (resulting in no effect) · hu haszontalan (resulting in no effect) · hu szükségtelen (having no reason or purpose) · bg мързелив (reluctant to work) · hu tétlen (reluctant to work) · de nichtig (resulting in no effect) · nl zinloos (resulting in no effect) · nl doelloos (having no reason or purpose)

otiose en · ADJ

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Antonyms

Deriveds

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Synonyms

Translations (57)