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Idle vs. Passive — What's the Difference?

Idle vs. Passive — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Idle and Passive

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Idle

Not employed or busy
Idle carpenters.

Passive

Accepting or allowing what happens or what others do, without active response or resistance
The women were portrayed as passive victims

Idle

Disinclined to work or be active; lazy
“a man who could seem idle, ignorant, even incompetent, yet was able to understand and to express ... the instincts, good and bad, of the American majority” (Godfrey Hodgson).

Passive

Denoting a voice of verbs in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb (e.g. they were killed as opposed to the active form he killed them).

Idle

Not in use or operation
Idle hands.
Idle mills.
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Passive

(of a circuit or device) containing no source of electromotive force
A passive optical network is to be installed in 2000 homes

Idle

(Sports) Not scheduled to play a game
Both teams played today but will be idle tomorrow.

Passive

(of a metal) made unreactive by a thin inert surface layer of oxide.

Idle

Being a period of time in which there is little or no activity
Passed idle hours watching TV.

Passive

A passive form of a verb.

Idle

Lacking substance, value, or basis
Idle speculation.
Idle threats.

Passive

Receiving or subjected to an action without responding or initiating an action in return
The mind viewed as a passive receptacle for sensory experience.

Idle

To pass time without being engaged in purposeful activity
“The girls idled all day long, sending their tinkling laughter flowing up and down the street” (Alai).

Passive

Accepting or submitting without objection or resistance; submissive
A passive acceptance of one's fate.

Idle

To move slowly or without purpose
“I drove past the workshop ... I idled along the driveway past the pole fence ... to Tyhee Road” (Tom Spanbauer).

Passive

Existing, conducted, or experienced without active or concerted effort
“Although tick paralysis is a reportable disease in Washington, surveillance is passive, and only 10 cases were reported during 1987–1995” (US Department of Health and Human Services). “[Many parents believe] that computers are educational and, at the least, less passive than television” (Laurie Hays).

Idle

To run at a slow speed or out of gear. Used of a motor or motor vehicle.

Passive

Of, relating to, or being certain bonds or shares that do not bear financial interest.

Idle

To pass (time) without doing anything
Idle the afternoon away.

Passive

Of, relating to, or being a solar heating or cooling system that uses no external mechanical power.

Idle

To make or cause to be unemployed or inactive
Layoffs that idled 1,000 factory workers.
A plant that was idled by a strike.

Passive

(Grammar) Of, relating to, or being a verb form or voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject is the object of the action or the effect of the verb. For example, in the sentence They were impressed by his manner, were impressed is in the passive voice.

Idle

To cause (a motor, for example) to idle.

Passive

(Chemistry) Unreactive except under special or extreme conditions; inert.

Idle

A state of idling. Used of a motor vehicle
An engine running quietly at idle.

Passive

(Electronics) Exhibiting no gain or contributing no energy
A passive circuit element.

Idle

A mechanism for regulating the speed at which an engine runs at rest
Set the idle higher to keep the motor from stalling.

Passive

The passive voice.

Idle

(obsolete) Empty, vacant.

Passive

A verb or construction in the passive voice.

Idle

Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
Idle hours
My computer hibernates after it has been idle for 30 minutes.

Passive

Being subjected to an action without producing a reaction.

Idle

Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
Idle workmen

Passive

Taking no action.
He remained passive during the protest.

Idle

Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.
An idle fellow

Passive

(grammar) Being in the passive voice.

Idle

Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
An idle story;
Idle talk;
Idle rumor

Passive

(psychology) Being inactive and submissive in a relationship, especially in a sexual one.

Idle

(obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.

Passive

(finance) Not participating in management.

Idle

(transitive) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.

Passive

(aviation) Without motive power.
A passive balloon; a passive aeroplane; passive flight, such as gliding and soaring

Idle

(intransitive) To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.
To idle in an IRC channel

Passive

(electronics) Of a component: that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.

Idle

(intransitive) Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

Passive

Where allowance is made for a possible future event.

Idle

(mechanical engineering) The lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine.

Passive

(grammar) The passive voice of verbs.

Idle

(gaming) An idle animation.

Passive

(grammar) A form of a verb that is in the passive voice.

Idle

(gaming) An idle game.

Passive

(marketing) A customer who is satisfied with a product or service, but not keen enough to promote it by word of mouth.

Idle

Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren.
Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Down their idle weapons dropped.
This idle story became important.

Passive

(electronics) Any component that consumes but does not produce energy, or is incapable of power gain.

Idle

Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed; as, idle hours.
The idle spear and shield were high uphing.

Passive

Not active, but acted upon; suffering or receiving impressions or influences; as, they were passive spectators, not actors in the scene.
The passive airUpbore their nimble tread.
The mind is wholly passive in the reception of all its simple ideas.

Idle

Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing; as, idle workmen.
Why stand ye here all the day idle?

Passive

Receiving or enduring without either active sympathy or active resistance; without emotion or excitement; patient; not opposing; unresisting; as, passive obedience; passive submission.
The best virtue, passive fortitude.

Idle

Given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; slothful; as, an idle fellow.

Passive

Inactive; inert; unreactive; not showing strong affinity; as, red phosphorus is comparatively passive.

Idle

Light-headed; foolish.

Passive

Designating certain morbid conditions, as hemorrhage or dropsy, characterized by relaxation of the vessels and tissues, with deficient vitality and lack of reaction in the affected tissues.

Idle

To lose or spend time in inaction, or without being employed in business.

Passive

The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb;
`The ball was thrown by the boy' uses the passive voice
`The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive

Idle

To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; - often followed by away; as, to idle away an hour a day.

Passive

Lacking in energy or will;
Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself

Idle

Run disconnected or idle;
The engine is idling

Passive

Peacefully resistant in response to injustice;
Passive resistance

Idle

Be idle; exist in a changeless situation;
The old man sat and stagnated on his porch
He slugged in bed all morning

Passive

Expressing thatthe subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb;
Academics seem to favor passive sentences

Idle

Not in action or at work;
An idle laborer
Idle drifters
The idle rich
An idle mind

Idle

Without a basis in reason or fact;
Baseless gossip
The allegations proved groundless
Idle fears
Unfounded suspicions
Unwarranted jealousy

Idle

Not in active use;
The machinery sat idle during the strike
Idle hands

Idle

Silly or trivial;
Idle pleasure
Light banter
Light idle chatter

Idle

Lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility;
Idle talk
A loose tongue

Idle

Not yielding a return;
Dead capital
Idle funds

Idle

Not having a job;
Idle carpenters
Jobless transients
Many people in the area were out of work

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