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Idol, Idle, or Idyll?
What Is the Difference between "Idol," "Idle," and "Idyll"?
"Idol" and "idle" are easy to confuse because they sound identical (i.e., they are perfect homonyms). These words are also sometimes confused with "idyll," which sounds similar.- "Idol" is someone or something you admire or worship. For example:
- The actor Jimmy Nail is my idol.
- "Idle" means lazy. For example:
- Stop being idle.
- The car engine will idle at 1000 rpm when the gearbox is in neutral.
- "Idyll" is a pleasant, peaceful, or picturesque time or place. For example:
- We're going to my idyll, a quaint rural village in the Peak District.

More about "Idol," "Idle," and "Idyll"
Idol
The noun "idol" means a representation (e.g., statue, carving, figurine) of a god used as an object of worship. The word "idol" is often used figuratively to denote a person or object that is greatly admired, loved, or revered. For example:- A champion can never pay back the help that made him an idol.
(Boxer Jack Dempsey)
- A god who lets us prove his existence would just be an idol.
(Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
- I don't idolize anyone or aspire to be like anyone.
(Actress Brooke Burke)
(The verb "to idolize" comes from "idol.")
Idle
The word "idle" is most commonly used as an adjective meaning lazy or work-shy. For example:- You really are an idle sod!
- It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.
(Founding Father of the United States Benjamin Franklin)
- I have no time to engage in idle gossip.
- As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.
(Benjamin Franklin)
- Do not idle in the coffee room.
- I need to idle on the beach for a week with a good book.
- The engine is idling faster than it should.
- Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.
(Critic Barbara Johnson)
Idyll
The noun "idyll" denotes a happy, peaceful, or picturesque period or event. It means an ideal time or an ideal place. For example:- Hollywood is my domestic idyll.
(Actor Rufus Sewell)
- There's something simple and idyllic about living in a house very close to the water.
(Actress Andrea Riseborough)
(The adjective "idyllic" (meaning blissful or perfect) comes from "idyll.")
- The poem starts with short, non-rhyming idyll.
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