bone-idle

See also: bone idle

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Laziness that penetrates the very bones. Attested 1836.[1] Similar terms (bone-lazy, bone-sore, bone-tired) pre-dated it in The Vocabulary Of East Anglia, 1830, Robert Forby. Compare to the bone.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)

Adjective

bone-idle (not comparable)

  1. (chiefly British, Ireland, Commonwealth, idiomatic) Utterly lazy.
    Synonyms: lither, swear; see also Thesaurus:lazy
    • 1836, Thomas Carlyle, New Letters:
      For the last three weeks I have been going what you call bone-idle.

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Gary Martin (1997–) “Bone idle”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 26 February 2017.

Anagrams

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