to do nothing
888
1.5
- phrasal verb
:
no hacer nada
- Well, I can't just do nothing.
- government did nothing
- did nothing to stop
- did nothing to resolve
You know, I could have done nothing and I did.
- You know, I could have done nothing and I did.
- The difference between doing something and doing nothing is everything.
- I don't see me doing nothing to throw it away.
- We can watch it happen and do nothing, or we can counteract it.
Examples
-
For several hours, I could do nothing but walk aimlessly in the rain.
Fiction book (1991) -
They oppose him, yet they do nothing.
-
Just sit here and do nothing?
-
We can't keep sitting here doing nothing.
-
For days, she was morose, and he could do nothing to cheer her up.
Fiction book (1991) -
After she had gone out, he sat doing nothing but covering the phone, which didn't ring.
Fiction book (1990) -
For a full minute after they'd gone, he did nothing but smile and stare at Miranda.
Fiction book (1990) -
If you do nothing all summer, you will miss out on many fun experiences.
-
We can't afford to do nothing while the situation continues to worsen.
-
Doing nothing can sometimes be as harmful as making the wrong choice.
Synonyms
728
1.6
To spend time doing things that are not useful instead of doing something more useful
350
1.1
To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose
223
4.0
To relax and do very little
43
3.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
7
6.2
To spend time doing little or nothing instead of working
7
4.3
To spend time relaxing and doing very little
5
3.8
To relax and do very little
4
5.8
To do nothing while you wait for something to happen
3
7.9
Spend time doing very little or nothing
2
9.9
To sit and do nothing instead of working
2
7.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
2
8.6
To spend time doing very little and moving around without plans
1
6.3
To spend time doing nothing or being inactive
1
8.7
To waste time doing small unimportant things
1
7.7
To spend time doing nothing and not working
1
3.4
To spend time lazily doing little or nothing
1
4.4
To spend time doing very little and relaxing
1
3.2
To spend time doing nothing
1
6.5
To spend time doing nothing in a lazy way
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
To relax and do almost nothing
To spend time doing small unimportant things with no real plan
Spend time or money on unimportant things
To pass time by doing something not useful while you wait
To spend time on things that are not useful
To waste time instead of working
Antonyms
How Active
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to spend time without engaging in any activity' is directly and compositionally derived from 'do' (perform) combined with 'nothing' (no thing), which yields the clear idea of not performing any action. This negation-based construction is a basic, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., Spanish 'no hacer nada'), so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily understand the expression.
Etymology
The phrase do nothing paints a clear picture: do means to act and nothing means no thing, so it shows someone sitting with empty hands and no task. That's why it means 'to be idle'.