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idly

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idly¹

  • /ˈaɪd(ə)lɪ/

Where it comes from

From Middle English idely, ydelly, idelliche, from Old English īdellīċe, equivalent to idle + -ly.

adverb more idly · most idly · idlely · idlily

  1. Without specific purpose, intent or effort. I idly played with the paper, not even realizing I was folding it into a paper airplane.
  2. In an idle manner.

idly²

Where it comes from

From Tamil இட்லி (iṭli), Kannada ಇಡ್ಲಿ (iḍli).

noun idlies

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of idli A Tamil breakfast starts with idly (steamed rice cakes) with sambhar (hot, spicy and sour lentils with vegetables) and rasams (broth of lentil, spiced) and upma (cooked course wheat), lunch is generally dosai (thin crepes), vadas (deep fried nuggets of lentils) with sambhar.

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MLA

"idly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/idly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

idly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/idly

Chicago

"idly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/idly.

BibTeX
@misc{idly_2026,
  title = {idly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/idly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}