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idlesse

[ ahyd-les ]

noun



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Word History and Origins

Origin of idlesse1

1590–1600; idle + -esse, as in finesse, etc.
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Example Sentences

"I will cut some bread for you, sir, if you will condescend to sit," said a voice, which was as that of a child at its evening prayer, so full it was of an innocent idlesse, not na�vet�, but differing therefrom as differs the lisp of infancy from the stammer of diffident manhood.

Feeding the clods your idlesse drains, You make more green six feet of soil; His fruitful word, like suns and rains, Partakes the seasons' bounteous pains, And toils to lighten human toil.

They had spun out a month of summer with that graceful mingling of idlesse and wonder, that a Frenchwoman can so well graft upon the habit of a husband's travel: they had bidden adieu to Brussels, and to Liege, and were fast nearing the border-town, beyond which lay their own sunny realm of France.

The tables were drawn, it was idlesse all, Knight and page and household squire Loitered through the lofty hall, Or crowded round the ample fire.

It may be that the owner of said pasture may recall the lines of Garcilaso: "But in calm idlesse laid, Supine in the cool shade Of oak or ilex, beech or pendant pine, Sees his flocks feeding stray, Whitening a length of way, Or numbers up his homeward-tending kine."

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