Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Sweet idleness; pleasing inactivity.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun carefree idleness
Etymologies
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Examples
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whichbe commented on the word dolce far niente
Literally means "sweet do nothing". A person who doesn't need to work or doesn't do anything useful, either from soft indolence, apathy, negligence or just a high quality standard for wasting time and making an art of it. (Wiktionary)
June 6, 2008
bilby commented on the word dolce far niente
Also the act of (not) doing it. In fact I've heard it only used in this sense. eg. Goldoni passo' anni nel dolce far niente. Which is probably not true, sorry Carlo!
June 6, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word dolce far niente
bilby is right, in Italian it's used to describe the act of doing nothing - in a positive (or, less often, slightly ironic) way. It's often used when describing a break from a hard job.
Dopo gli esami, mi sto finalmente godendo un po' di dolce far niente.
("After my exams, I'm finally enjoying some dolce far niente").
June 6, 2008