idly
/ˈaɪd(ə)lɪ/
idly adverb: without specific purpose, intent or effort. Also the alternative spelling of idli.
Adverb
idly (comparative more idly, superlative most idly)
- 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.
Also used as
idly is also the alternative spelling of idli.
Examples of idly in a sentence
- I can't accept nothing being done about the problem and your standing idly by.
- Joe idly hoboed through half the country till he realized hoboing never gets you anywhere in life.
- If the Duke arms himself for war, the king will not sit by idly!
Forms of idly
| Adverb | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more idly |
| superlative | most idly |
| alternative form (obsolete) | idlely |
| alternative form (rare) | idlily |
| Noun | |
| plural | idlies |
Origin of idly
From Middle English idely, ydelly, idelliche, from Old English īdellīċe, equivalent to idle + -ly.
From Tamil இட்லி (iṭli), Kannada ಇಡ್ಲಿ (iḍli).
Words formed from idly
Phrases with idly
Questions about idly
- What does idly mean?
- Idly means without specific purpose, intent or effort.
- What part of speech is idly?
- Idly is an adverb.
- How do you pronounce idly?
- Idly is pronounced /ˈaɪd(ə)lɪ/.
Words near idly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: idly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-idly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “idly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/idly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.