What is the difference between 'lazy' and 'idle'?

Question

It is so confusing about the meanings of 'lazy' and 'idle'.. and the difference between 'How long will you stay?" & "How long will you be staying?"

If you can help, I will be really grateful. I have been onto bbc, but still get a bit confused if there is any difference between them at all!

Thank you~~~^_^

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Welcome to English Forums!

When you are idle, you are not doing anything. You are not working at any task. You are not playing any game. You are simply not doing anything. You are not busy doing things. Maybe you just don't have anything to do at the moment, but in a little while you will find something to do.

If you are lazy, you do not want to do anything. In particular you do not want to do your work. You want to be idle because you do not like to exert any effort to do things. There are many tasks to do, but you don't do them. You may remain idle because you have no desire to do your tasks. Or, you may be quite busy playing games because you have no desire to do your tasks. If you play games, you won't have to work on your tasks. You do everything possible to avoid doing your work. You are lazy.

I hope that helps you understand the difference.

CJ

Danyoo · Answer

Han Han'How long will you stay?" & "How long will you be staying?"

Above two sentences mean pretty much the same.

Han Han · Answer

Thanks a lot...I found out there isnt a problem and they are pretty much the same as long as it means same thing. Thanx!

Anonymous · Answer

to me the difference is one of our cats, lazy, has a black dot on her hear and our other cat, idle, hasnt

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymousto me the difference is one of our cats, lazy, has a black dot on her hear and our other cat, idle, hasnt

It's a shame that this is a response to a five-year-old post because it offers some really useful advice about the difference between those words.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

I was just reading about this difference between idle and lazy.

That post (great post!) distinguishes between the lazy, which is an attitude and idle which is a state, not necessarily an attitude.

Aditya Prasad Ma · Answer

Actually lazy is habitual and  permanent. .If someone is lazy,he /she doesn't have interest to do anything.On the contrary ,idle is an acquired quality ,if someone is idle he is not doing anything now...Idleness in long run ,makes a person lazy.

What is the difference between 'lazy' and 'idle'?

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