English Explanatory Dictionary

indolence

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Habitual laziness or sloth.
  2. Lack of pain in a tumour.
  3. A state in which one feels no pain or is indifferent to it; a lack of any feeling.
  4. A state of repose in which neither pain nor pleasure is experienced.

Pronunciation

/ˈɪndəl(ə)ns/ /ˈɪndl̩(ə)ns/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-indolence.wav /ˈɪndl̩əns/

Word forms

indolence indolences

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French indolence, or from its etymon Latin indolentia (“freedom from pain; insensibility”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + dolēns (“hurting, suffering; grieving, lamenting”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Dolēns is the present participle of doleō (“to hurt, suffer; to be sorry, deplore, grieve for, lament”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *delh₁- (“to divide, split”).

Synonyms

accidie idleness inapplication indolency inexertion noynoying oisivity slothfulness sluggishness unservice unsensibleness

Antonyms

application diligence hardworkingness industriousness industry

Related words

indolency indolent indolently
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