Otiose vs Spare - What's the Difference?

Otiose

Spare

Definitions

Definition as Noun
Definition as Noun
  • a score in tenpins; knocking down all ten after rolling two balls
  • an extra car wheel and tire for a four-wheel vehicle
  • an extra component of a machine or other apparatus
Definition as Verb
Definition as Verb
  • save or relieve from an experience or action
  • use frugally or carefully
  • give up what is not strictly needed
  • refrain from harming
Definition as Adjective
  • serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being
  • producing no result or effect
  • disinclined to work or exertion
Definition as Adjective
  • kept in reserve especially for emergency use
  • lacking in magnitude or quantity
  • more than is needed, desired, or required
  • not taken up by scheduled activities
  • lacking embellishment or ornamentation
  • thin and fit

Examples

  • "otiose lines in a play"; "advice is wasted words"; "a pointless remark"; "a life essentially purposeless"; "senseless violence"
  • "a futile effort"; "the therapy was ineffectual"; "an otiose undertaking"; "an unavailing attempt"
  • "faineant kings under whose rule the country languished"; "an indolent hanger-on"; "too lazy to wash the dishes"; "shiftless idle youth"; "slothful employees"; "the unemployed are not necessarily work-shy"
  • "a reserve supply of food"; "a spare tire"; "spare parts"
  • "a bare livelihood"; "a scanty harvest"; "a spare diet"
  • "trying to lose excess weight"; "found some extra change lying on the dresser"; "yet another book on heraldry might be thought redundant"; "skills made redundant by technological advance"; "sleeping in the spare room"; "supernumerary ornamentation"; "it was supererogatory of her to gloat"; "delete superfluous (or unnecessary) words"; "extra ribs as well as other supernumerary internal parts"; "surplus cheese distributed to the needy"
  • "a free hour between classes"; "spare time on my hands"
  • "a plain hair style"; "unembellished white walls"; "functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete"
  • "the spare figure of a marathon runner"; "a body kept trim by exercise"
  • "I'll spare you from having to apologize formally"
  • "he asked if they could spare one of their horses to speed his journey"

Parts of Speech

Adjective
Adjective, Noun, Verb