Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Offering no initiative for change, especially in politics.
  • noun An idle or lazy person.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who does nothing; an idler.
  • Doing no work; idle; indolent; inactive.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective prenominal Doing nothing; disinclined to work or exertion; inactive; idle; lazy; -- of people.
  • noun person who does no work.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lazy person.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun person who does no work
  • adjective characterized by inability or unwillingness to work toward a goal or assume responsibility

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word do-nothing.

Examples

  • Already on Thursday morning, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley went on the offensive against what he described as a do-nothing climate on Capitol Hill.

    Reuters: Press Release 2011

  • Obama than has more campaign ammo to attack what he calls the "do-nothing Congress."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2012

  • Republicans are doubling down on a legislative agenda that resembles last year's efforts to shrink the size and scope of government, and Obama is prepared to exploit a lack of legislative accomplishments as he runs against a so-called "do-nothing" Congress.

    News - chicagotribune.com By Li 2012

  • Republicans are doubling down on a legislative agenda that resembles last year's efforts to shrink the size and scope of government, and Obama is prepared to exploit a lack of legislative accomplishments as he runs against a so-called "do-nothing" Congress.

    News - chicagotribune.com By Li 2012

  • In the 1952 midterms, which after all came just two years after the 1948 election, in which President Truman had his marvelous upset, railed against the do-nothing Republican Congress, brought Democrats back into power, just two years later in the middle of a really unpopular Korean War, Democrats thrown out again.

    'Vanity Fair' Writer: What Will Speaker Boehner Do? 2010

  • In the 1952 midterms, which after all came just two years after the 1948 election, in which President Truman had his marvelous upset, railed against the do-nothing Republican Congress, brought Democrats back into power, just two years later in the middle of a really unpopular Korean War, Democrats thrown out again.

    'Vanity Fair' Writer: What Will Speaker Boehner Do? 2010

  • The do-nothing Republicans (and let's not forget Sara Palin) are doing a good job of fostering fear in the American public over the national healthcare issue.

    Polls: Obama approval rating stands at 51 percent 2009

  • Two years later, voters reacted to a "do-nothing Congress" by tossing out 75 Republicans.

    Revival of Volatility Signals Historic Era in U.S. Politics Neil King Jr. 2010

  • I'm sick of these do-nothing Republicans criticizing instead of coming to the table or offering ideas of their own.

    America 'traumatized' by health-care debate, key Democrat says 2009

  • How carrying loaded firearms, calls of Naziism, shouting over questions _and_ answers make up the do-nothing GOP's response to reform?

    Barney Frank goes toe to toe at health care town hall 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.