different between inactivity vs indolence

English

Etymology

From in- +? activity.

Noun

inactivity (countable and uncountable, plural inactivities)

1. The quality of being inactive; idleness; passiveness.
   • 1994, Helene Barbara Weinberg, Doreen Bolger, David Park Curry, American Impressionism and Realism

     Painters depicted Idle Hours (see fig. 99), reverie, solitude, and other themes that reflected Americans' new willingness to eschew productivity, and they sold their canvases to patrons who enjoyed both the inactivities portrayed and seeing themselves portrayed in inactivities.

Derived terms

• masterly inactivity

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle French indolence, from Latin indolentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??nd?l?ns/

Noun

indolence (usually uncountable, plural indolences)

1. Habitual laziness or sloth.
   • 1912, Stewart Edward White, chapter 19, in The Sign at Six:

     [H]er whole figure expressed a tense vibrant life in singular contrast to the apparent indolence of the men at whom she was talking.

   • 2001 September 10, Garrison Keillor, “In praise of laziness”, in Time^[1]:

     [N]ow, after five weeks of doing nothing, I am an authority on the subject of indolence and glad to share my views with you.

Synonyms

• indolency

Related terms

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin indolentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.d?.l??s/

Noun

indolence f (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) insensibility, lack of pain
2. laziness, indolence

Further reading

• “indolence” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).