How to Use indolence in a Sentence

indolence

noun
  • Through sloth the roof sinks in and through indolence, the house leaks.
    — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, 11 May 2018
  • On the right, cash payments are seen to promote indolence and inflation.
    — Roger Valdez, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2023
  • The campaign brings to life the seven deadly sins; pride, wrath, envy, indolence, gourmand, greed, and lust.
    — Nandi Howard, Essence, 16 Oct. 2019
  • There's negligence, errors, indolence, even a lack of conscience among the drivers.
    — Nora Gámez Torres, miamiherald, 21 Feb. 2018
  • The rapid growth of AI data centers is simply forcing us to reckon with many years of indolence.
    — Big Think, 22 Apr. 2026
  • As if my sudden turn to sedentariness were the result of indolence, not infirmity.
    — Lucinda Rosenfeld, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The Supreme Court is obliged to act because of the indolence of the executive, say the judge’s supporters.
    — The Economist, 28 Mar. 2018
  • Another woman worried about her husband’s indolence in the early months of retirement.
    — David Ekerdt, WSJ, 22 Apr. 2018
  • In Afghanistan, fashion, with its low barriers to entry, is not so much a symbol of self-indulgent indolence as a lever of advancement.
    — New York Times, 25 Aug. 2021
  • Sullivan, a pipeline worker, has been jobless for more than a year but argued the payments would increase the national debt and reward indolence.
    — The New York Times, Arkansas Online, 14 July 2021
  • Painted by John White Alexander in Paris in 1895, it is drenched in a mood of dusky indolence.
    — Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2021
  • What looks to older generations like indolence and a reluctance to grow up might be, at least in part, a response to medical developments.
    — The Economist, 10 Jan. 2018
  • Wellness was always at the fore, yes, but in its early stages the hotel was primed for indulgent indolence, a jungly bolt-hole for newlyweds, with a side order of soul soothing.
    — Antonia Quirke, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Nov. 2019
  • Plush custom mattresses and deep soaking tubs lead to indulgent indolence after drinks or dining at several pricey but exquisite venues.
    — Jeanne Cooper, SFChronicle.com, 11 June 2018
  • The enigmatic narrative suggests ritual and indolence, conflict between two sisters, and a moment of epic choice.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 11 Oct. 2019
  • Sennott and her costars speak with an irritatingly fake affect, are shallower than a puddle in the desert and prize selfishness, indolence and artifice.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The government insisted that the corn be sold rather than given away (free food would merely reinforce Irish indolence), and those who received it had little idea at first how to cook it.
    — Fintan O'Toole, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
  • After indulging Sofia’s indolence for the better part of its running time, the movie suddenly supports her newfound sense of independence.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Getting a lot of sleep is virtuous (wellness, leisure) and also objectionable (self-indulgence, indolence).
    — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 12 Oct. 2023
  • This is our deliverance from mediocrity and indolence — our greatest national security threat.
    — Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2025
  • Walker attributed the success of the strip to Beetle's indolence and reluctance to follow authority.
    — NBC News, 28 Jan. 2018
  • Although a genius at depicting indolence, Hockney himself worked with a rigorous commitment.
    — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 16 June 2026
  • Part of his great accomplishment was to take the European aesthetic of beauty and redefine it for the South, with its heat and its billboards, its indolence and humor and thick nights.
    — Hilton Als, New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2026
  • Economic recovery has been weak and disaster recovery since Maria was botched by local corruption and federal indolence.
    — Rashid Carlos Jamil Marcano Rivera, The Conversation, 14 Dec. 2020
  • Often, white privilege is rooted in a state of aloofness, disconnection, no sense of consequence, and the indolence of sitting behind ignorance — the choice not to understand.
    — Arizona Republic, azcentral, 26 June 2019
  • If slouching among privileged white Americans could indicate an enviable carelessness, it was seen as proof of indolence when adopted by the disadvantaged.
    — Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
  • But what if a horror movie's antagonist was an animal whose name is literally synonymous with laziness, indolence, and inactivity?
    — Clark Collis, EW.com, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Some part of Baudelaire’s lifelong free-spending and indolence seems to be a direct rebellion against the man, if not outright Freudian jealousy—Charles was an unabashed mama’s boy.
    — Literary Hub, 22 Dec. 2025
  • Among those most involved in volunteering and rescuing victims were young people, who seemed especially motivated to defy stereotypes of apathy and indolence.
    — David Agren, Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2017
  • The apparent uselessness of these purchases signaled their owners’ extravagant indolence.
    — J.c. Pan, New Republic, 1 Aug. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'indolence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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