French word

oisiveté

Pronunciation

IPA/wazivəte/

Meaning

  • feminine nounlaziness

Example

Ne laisse pas ton oisiveté t'empêcher d'agir.

Don't let your laziness prevent you from acting.

Illustration for oisiveté (laziness)

More examples

Pendant les vacances, il craint de tomber dans l'oisiveté.

During the vacation, he is afraid of lapsing into idleness.

Core concept

An empty stretch of time in which a person remains inactive instead of acting.

Common phrases

  • tomber dans l'oisiveté

    lapse into idleness

  • échapper à l'oisiveté

    break free from idleness

Similar words

paresse: A reluctance or habit of avoiding work or study.
flemme: A mild feeling of not wanting to get moving or do anything.
inactivité: A state in which no activity or movement is taking place.
procrastination: The act of putting off tasks that need to be done.

Definition in French

État d'inactivité où une personne ne fournit aucun effort ni travail.

Word origin

The noun oisiveté derives from oisif, while the suffix -eté forms a noun naming a state or quality.

Usage tips

  • Oisiveté is feminine, so its indefinite article is une and its vowel-initial form takes the elision l' in l'oisiveté.

Other meanings

  • idlenessnoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word