At the end of a long season, most of the 23-man squads are expected to complete few training sessions to avoid exhaustion.
That will leave plenty of free time for players, and Hodgson said it was up to them to occupy themselves in Brazil.
"It's a complete nonsense," Hodgson said.
"It's one of those silly excuses that people use. You really cannot have that attitude.
"I don't think it's our job to keep the players occupied. I think when you sign up for the World Cup you sign up for the World Cup as it's going to be.
"From May 19, hopefully through to the final, you're going to be away, you'll be with another group of players and maybe there will be only one training session a day, so there will be a lot of free time."
Hodgson said the players were free to play golf or video games, watch movies or TV shows and listen to music during their spare time.
The former Fulham manager, whose England side are in Group D alongside Uruguay, Costa Rica and Italy, said most players welcomed the idea of free time.
"They're all going to say, 'Yeah, we understand that, we want to go. It's been my dream. All my life I’ve dreamed it'," Hodgson said.
"Unfortunately, no-one will say that in advance, and then some of them will go to the World Cup and play badly and say to you guys, 'I was bored.' And you'll write, 'poor fella'."
"It's like a soldier signing up for the army, then saying, 'I'm a bit bored sitting around these barracks every day with nothing to do'.
"They must have plenty of boredom in their lives but they cope with it."
