Idle or idol?
idle is an adjective meaning “Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or…”; idol is a noun meaning “A graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to…”. Use idle as an adjective and idol as a noun (idle is also a noun: “The state of idling, of being idle”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) idol is about 1.7 times as common as idle.
What is the difference between idle and idol?
| idle | idol | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, verb, noun | noun |
| Meaning | Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular To spend (time) in idleness; to waste; to consume | A graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to convey spiritual power A cultural icon, or especially popular person |
| Example | idle hours | Tom Cruise is his idol |
| Forms | none | idols |
| Pronunciation | /ˈaɪd(ə)l/ /ˈʌɪdəl/ | /ˈaɪ.dl̩/ [ˈaɪ.dl̩] |
| In writing | 5.0 times per million words | 8.7 times per million words |
Sources: idle and idol in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of idle and idol
idle
- 1
Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity
idle hours
- 2
To spend (time) in idleness; to waste; to consume
- 3
The state of idling, of being idle
- 4
Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular
idle workmen
- 5
To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business
to idle in an IRC channel
- 6
The lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine
a lumpy idle
- 7
Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful
an idle fellow
- 8
Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over
idol
- 1
A graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to convey spiritual power
- 2
A cultural icon, or especially popular person
- 3
A popular entertainer, usually young, captivating and attractive, and often female, with an image of being close to fans
Tom Cruise is his idol
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, idle or idol?
idle appears 5.0 times per million words; idol 8.7 times per million words.
idle 5.0 times per million wordsidol 8.7 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search idle vs idol?
“idle vs idol” is searched about 170 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“idol vs idle”, “idle or idol”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.