The Clue
Fruitless (4 letter answer)
The Answer
IDLE
Tags
Notes
The answer IDLE is very common and appears about once every 38 puzzles.
Related Clues
Fainéant
Futile
Groundless
Inactive
Indolent
Lallygag
Lazy
Loafing
Motionless
Otiose
Recumbent
Trifling
Unemployed
Unoccupied
Useless
Waiting
On break, say
Chilling, say
Doing nothing
Goofing off
Kind of fancy
Kind of talk
Lay off
Leave in neutral
Not functioning
Not in use
Not at work
Not working
Nothing doing?
Out of action
Out of work
Pink-slip
Run in neutral
Run in place
Unfounded, as gossip
Just twiddling the thumbs
Like some fears
Twiddling one's thumbs
Definition
IDLE as a noun:
1. the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling; "the car engine was running at idle"
IDLE as a verb:
1. (idle, tick over) = run disconnected or idle; "the engine is idling"
2. (idle, laze, slug, stagnate) = be idle; exist in a changeless situation; "The old man sat and stagnated on his porch"; "He slugged in bed all morning"
IDLE as an adjective:
1. not in action or at work; "an idle laborer"; "idle drifters"; "the idle rich"; "an idle mind"
2. (baseless, groundless, idle, unfounded, unwarranted, wild) = without a basis in reason or fact; "baseless gossip"; "the allegations proved groundless"; "idle fears"; "unfounded suspicions"; "unwarranted jealousy"
3. (idle, unused) = not in active use; "the machinery sat idle during the strike"; "idle hands"
4. (idle, light) = silly or trivial; "idle pleasure"; "light banter"; "light idle chatter"
5. (idle, loose) = lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk"; "a loose tongue"
6. (dead, idle) = not yielding a return; "dead capital"; "idle funds"
7. (idle, jobless, out of work) = not having a job; "idle carpenters"; "jobless transients"; "many people in the area were out of work"