otiose

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈəʊtɪˌəʊs/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(ō′shē ōs′, ō′tē-)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
o•ti•ose  (ō′shē ōs′, ō′tē-),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. being at leisure; idle;
    indolent.
  2. ineffective or futile.
  3. superfluous or useless.
  • Latin ōtiōsus at leisure, equivalent. to ōti(um) leisure + -ōsus -ose1
  • 1785–95
o′ti•ose′ly, adv. 
o•ti•os•i•ty  (ō′shē os′i tē, ō′tē-),USA pronunciation o′ti•ose′ness, n. 
    1. lazy, slothful. 2. idle, vain, profitless. 3. redundant, worthless, pointless.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
otiose /ˈəʊtɪˌəʊs; -ˌəʊz/ adj
  1. serving no useful purpose: otiose language
  2. rare indolent; lazy
Etymology: 18th Century: from Latin ōtiōsus leisured, from ōtium leisureotiosity /ˌəʊtɪˈɒsɪtɪ/, ˈotioseness n
'otiose' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-ose

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