bone-idle

English

Alternative forms

• bone idle

Etymology

Laziness that penetrates the very bones. Attested 1836. Similar terms (bone-lazy, bone-sore, bone-tired) pre-dated it in The Vocabulary Of East Anglia, 1830, Robert Forby.

Adjective

bone-idle (not comparable)

1. (UK, idiomatic) utterly lazy
   • 1836, Thomas Carlyle, New Letters:

     For the last three weeks I have been going what you call bone-idle.

See also

• dead tired