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do-nothing. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
do-nothing, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
do-nothing in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
Essentially deverbal in nature, albeit not from a unitary phrasal verb; from the phrase do nothing, which English expresses as a clausal phrase.
Adjective
do-nothing
- (attributive) doing nothing, not taking any action.
2020 April 22, “Letters: Open Access: Castlefield conundrum”, in Rail, page 31:Manchester needs more railway capacity. Just how that is provided until the new platforms are built for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, I will leave for the experts, but a do-nothing approach is not going to be helpful and quite justifiably will create more arguments that the North is being ignored.
Noun
do-nothing (plural do-nothings)
- A lazy person.
- Synonyms: (archaic) do-naught, faineant, slacker; see also Thesaurus:idler
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