delightful idleness

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

Pliny has "Jucundum tamen nihil agere" (Ep. viii, 9).

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “delightful idleness” mean?

Pliny has "Jucundum tamen nihil agere" (Ep. viii, 9).

Is “delightful idleness” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.