ocioso

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ōtiōsus (“idle; unemployed”), from ōtium (“leisure”) + -ōsus.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /o.siˈo.zu/, (faster) /oˈsjo.zu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔˈsjo.zu/

• Rhymes: -ozu
• Hyphenation: o‧ci‧o‧so

Adjective

ocioso (feminine ociosa, masculine plural ociosos, feminine plural ociosas, metaphonic)

1. idle (not engaged in any occupation or employment)

   Synonyms: desempregado, inativo

   Antonym: empregado

2. lazy; work-shy

   Synonyms: indolente, preguiçoso, vagabundo

   Antonyms: diligente, industrioso

3. (of a period of time) when there is nothing to do
4. not being used

Related terms

• ócio
• ociosamente
• ociosidade

Further reading

• “ocioso”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ocioso”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin ōtium

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?

Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos?

Old Latin -ōssus

Latin -ōsus

Latin otiōsuslbor.

Spanish ocioso

Learned borrowing from Latin otiōsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈθjoso/ [oˈθjo.so] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /oˈsjoso/ [oˈsjo.so] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -oso
• Syllabification: o‧cio‧so

Adjective

ocioso (feminine ociosa, masculine plural ociosos, feminine plural ociosas)

1. idle
2. useless

   Synonym: inútil

Noun

ocioso m (plural ociosos, feminine ociosa, feminine plural ociosas)

1. idler

   Synonyms: holgazán, remolón, zángano

Related terms

• ocio
• ociosidad

Further reading

• “ocioso”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025