Word: indolent (adjective)

Associations

"Indolent" means lazy or avoiding work and effort. It describes a person or behavior that prefers rest and inactivity rather than being active or working.

• He was so indolent that he spent the whole day watching TV instead of doing his homework. This shows laziness.
• The indolent cat slept all afternoon, ignoring the toys around it. Here, it means the cat is inactive and relaxed.
• Doctors sometimes describe certain diseases as indolent when they progress slowly and cause little pain. In this case, it means slow and causing little trouble. A similar word is "lazy," but "indolent" is often more formal or literary and can describe both people and things (like diseases). "Lazy" usually refers only to people and is more common in everyday speech.

Substitution

You can replace "indolent" with:

• lazy (more common, informal)
• idle (not working or active)
• sluggish (slow and inactive)
• lethargic (very tired or slow) Each word changes the feeling slightly. For example, "lazy" focuses on unwillingness to work, while "lethargic" suggests tiredness or lack of energy.

Deconstruction

"Indolent" comes from Latin:

• prefix "in-" means "not"
• root "dolere" means "to feel pain" So literally, "indolent" means "not feeling pain," which evolved to mean avoiding pain or effort—hence laziness or inactivity.

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when you felt indolent? What made you want to rest instead of work?
• How would you describe an indolent person in your family or among your friends?
• Can "indolent" be positive sometimes, like resting to recover? When might that be?