idle

/ˈaɪd(ə)l/

//ˈaɪd(ə)l// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“idle” sits in 12 confusable pairs (corpus #43,937) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#43,937
frequency rank, Portuguese
938
“I” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - vazio, vago

Corpus desk

Index PT-idle · idle · Portuguese

idle · rank #43,937 · 4 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #43,937
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 938
  • PHOTO-FINISH inato

Nearest frequency peer: inato (+3 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Vizinhos de frequência do confusável “idle”

Pares de peso semelhante no corpus, aparte dos confusáveis abaixo

corpus weight

What this shows As barras situam “idle” face aos lemas portugueses mais próximos por rank, não um reprint da secretária de confusáveis.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

idle vs ie
50% similar
idle vs ido
50% similar
idle vs ill
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for idle
PropertyValue
Headwordidle
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈaɪd(ə)l/
Letters4
Frequency rank#43,937
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rank de corpus junto a confusáveis de “idle”

Esta escala corre do núcleo do português quotidiano (esquerda) até o rastro de formas raras (direita).idlecai aqui:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

A escala é logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× mais rara). Na mesma faixa de raridade aparecem “inato” (#43,940), “internamento” (#43,951), “invalidez” (#43,952). Entre 938 lemas com “I”, “idle” fica em #43,937. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for idle is neighbouring look-alikes ("ie", "ido", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /ˈaɪd(ə)l/. Frequency #43,937 among 938 “I” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for idle, with forms such as "dile", "iddle", and "idel". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "ie", "ido", "ill", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Portuguese form is idle, spelled I-D-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    vazio, vago
  2. 2
    desocupado,à toa
  3. 3
    desempregado, inativo, sem fazer nada
  4. 4
    relutante ao trabalho, preguiçoso, vagabundo
  5. 5
    inútil; vão; sem importância; bobo

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how idle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. idle workmen
  2. an idle fellow

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • dile
  • iddle
  • idel
  • idlle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of idle - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

dile2iddle1idel2idlle1
Edit distance from "idle"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "idle"?
"idle" is spelled I-D-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈaɪd(ə)l/.
What does "idle" mean?
As an adjective, "idle" means: vazio, vago
What words are commonly confused with "idle"?
"idle" is commonly confused with "ie", "ido", "ill". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "idle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "idle" is /ˈaɪd(ə)l/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "idle" come from?
"idle" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "idle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ermo#43,878nami#44,009dolo#43,862dial#43,858

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list