different between insensible vs idle

English

Etymology

From Old French insensible, from Late Latin ?ns?nsibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?s?n.s?.bl?/
• Hyphenation: in?sen?si?ble

Adjective

insensible (comparative more insensible, superlative most insensible)

1. Unable to be perceived by the senses.
   • They fall away, / And languish with insensible decay.

2. Incapable or deprived of physical sensation.
3. Unable to be understood; unintelligible.
4. Not sensible or reasonable; meaningless.
   • 1736, Matthew Hale, Historia Placitorum Coronæ

     If it make the indictment be insensible or uncertain, […] it shall be quashed.

5. Incapable of mental feeling; indifferent.

   • Lost in their loves, insensible of shame.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Modern Library Edition (1995), page 138

     In spite of her deep-rooted dislike, she could not be insensible to the compliment of such a man's affection...

6. Incapable of emotional feeling; callous; apathetic.

   Synonym: insensitive

Antonyms

• sensible

Derived terms

• insensibility
• insensibly

Translations

French

Etymology

From Old French insensible, from Late Latin ?ns?nsibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.s??.sibl/
• Homophone: insensibles

Adjective

insensible (plural insensibles)

1. insensible
2. impervious

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

From Late Latin ?ns?nsibilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /insen?sible/, [?n.s?n?si.??le]

Adjective

insensible (plural insensibles)

1. insensible, insensitive, callous, cold, tactless

   Antonym: sensible

Related terms

• insensibilidad (possibly derived)

Further reading

• “insensible” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English ?del, from Proto-Germanic *?dalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”), German eitel (“vain, conceited”), and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ??d(?)l, IPA^(key): /?a?d(?)l/
• Rhymes: -a?d?l
• Homophones: idol, idyll, idyl (US pronunciation)

Adjective

idle (comparative more idle, superlative most idle)

1. (obsolete) Empty, vacant.
2. Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
3. Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
4. Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

   • “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”

5. Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

6. (obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ford to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (of no importance): pointless
• See also Thesaurus:lazy

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

idle (third-person singular simple present idles, present participle idling, simple past and past participle idled)

1. (transitive) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
2. (intransitive) To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.

   to idle in an IRC channel

   • 1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand (page 32)

     He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […]

3. (intransitive) Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

Derived terms

• idler

Related terms

• (sense 3) idling speed

Translations

Noun

idle (plural idles)

1. The state of idling, of being idle.
2. (gaming) An idle animation.
3. (gaming) An idle game.

   Synonyms: idle game, incremental game

References

• idle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• idle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• idle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Diel, deli, diel, eild, lied