50 Idioms for Wasting Time With Meanings & Sentences
Idioms for Wasting Time
1. Drag one’s feet
Meaning: To delay doing something intentionally.
In a Sentence: He dragged his feet on the assignment until the last minute.
Other Ways to Say: Stall, Procrastinate
2. Fiddle around
Meaning: To do unimportant tasks instead of focusing on what’s important.
In a Sentence: Stop fiddling around and get your homework done!
Other Ways to Say: Fool around, Mess around
3. Kill time
Meaning: To do something unimportant while waiting for something else.
In a Sentence: I read a magazine to kill time before my appointment.
Other Ways to Say: Pass the time, Waste time
4. Beat around the bush
Meaning: To avoid talking directly about something important.
In a Sentence: She beat around the bush instead of answering the question.
Other Ways to Say: Stall, Avoid the point
5. Go around in circles
Meaning: To keep doing the same thing without making progress.
In a Sentence: We were going around in circles trying to find the solution.
Other Ways to Say: Get nowhere, Spin wheels
6. Dilly-dally
Meaning: To waste time by being indecisive.
In a Sentence: Stop dilly-dallying and make a decision already!
Other Ways to Say: Dawdle, Linger
7. Twiddle your thumbs
Meaning: To do nothing while waiting.
In a Sentence: He just twiddled his thumbs while everyone else worked.
Other Ways to Say: Idle, Do nothing
8. Waste breath
Meaning: To talk in vain with no result.
In a Sentence: Arguing with him is a waste of breath.
Other Ways to Say: Talk pointlessly, Speak in vain
9. Spin one’s wheels
Meaning: To put in effort without achieving anything.
In a Sentence: I felt like I was spinning my wheels on this useless task.
Other Ways to Say: Make no progress, Struggle in vain
10. Pass the time
Meaning: To do something to occupy oneself during a wait.
In a Sentence: I played games to pass the time during the delay.
Other Ways to Say: Kill time, Fill the gap
11. Go off on a tangent
Meaning: To suddenly start talking about a completely different topic.
In a Sentence: He always goes off on tangents during meetings.
Other Ways to Say: Get sidetracked, Lose focus
12. Burn daylight
Meaning: To waste time when you should be working.
In a Sentence: Let’s get started—we’re burning daylight!
Other Ways to Say: Lose time, Delay work
13. Chase your tail
Meaning: To keep busy but achieve nothing.
In a Sentence: I spent the whole day chasing my tail at the office.
Other Ways to Say: Get nowhere, Waste effort
14. Monkey around
Meaning: To behave in a silly or unproductive way.
In a Sentence: Stop monkeying around and get serious.
Other Ways to Say: Fool around, Mess about
15. Waste time
Meaning: To spend time doing nothing useful.
In a Sentence: You’re just wasting time by scrolling endlessly.
Other Ways to Say: Kill time, Procrastinate
16. Take your sweet time
Meaning: To go very slowly, often causing delays.
In a Sentence: She took her sweet time getting ready.
Other Ways to Say: Delay, Move slowly
17. Let the grass grow under your feet
Meaning: To be inactive or slow to act.
In a Sentence: Don’t let the grass grow under your feet—get moving!
Other Ways to Say: Delay, Stall
18. Procrastinate
Meaning: To delay or postpone doing something.
In a Sentence: He procrastinated until the last possible minute.
Other Ways to Say: Put off, Stall
19. Tread water
Meaning: To stay in the same place without making progress.
In a Sentence: I’ve been treading water in my job for years.
Other Ways to Say: Stay stagnant, Make no progress
20. Piddle away
Meaning: To waste time or resources little by little.
In a Sentence: He piddled away his time watching random videos.
Other Ways to Say: Squander, Fritter away
21. Clown around
Meaning: To act silly and waste time.
In a Sentence: They were clowning around instead of doing their work.
Other Ways to Say: Fool around, Mess around
22. Laze around
Meaning: To relax and do nothing productive.
In a Sentence: I just lazed around all weekend.
Other Ways to Say: Lounge, Be idle
23. Shoot the breeze
Meaning: To chat casually with no real purpose.
In a Sentence: We shot the breeze for hours at the café.
Other Ways to Say: Chitchat, Small talk
24. Fritter away
Meaning: To gradually waste something, especially time or money.
In a Sentence: He frittered away the day watching YouTube.
Other Ways to Say: Waste, Squander
25. Waste away
Meaning: To lose strength or energy due to inactivity.
In a Sentence: He wasted away in front of the TV.
Other Ways to Say: Deteriorate, Decline
26. Spin your wheels
Meaning: To make no progress despite putting in effort.
In a Sentence: I studied all night but was just spinning my wheels without understanding a thing.
Other Ways to Say: Get nowhere, Waste effort
27. Kill time
Meaning: To do something unimportant while waiting.
In a Sentence: I walked around the mall to kill time before my appointment.
Other Ways to Say: Pass the time, Fill the gap
28. On a wild goose chase
Meaning: To waste time searching for something that doesn’t exist or can’t be found.
In a Sentence: Looking for that old book in the attic was a wild goose chase.
Other Ways to Say: Hopeless search, Fool’s errand
29. Chasing rainbows
Meaning: Pursuing unrealistic or impossible goals.
In a Sentence: He’s always chasing rainbows instead of setting real goals.
Other Ways to Say: Dream chasing, Pipe dream
30. Make a mountain out of a molehill
Meaning: To overreact or make a big deal out of a small issue.
In a Sentence: She made a mountain out of a molehill about being five minutes late.
Other Ways to Say: Blow out of proportion, Overdramatize
31. While away the time
Meaning: To spend time in a relaxed, unproductive way.
In a Sentence: We whiled away the afternoon playing cards.
Other Ways to Say: Pass time, Laze around
32. Running in circles
Meaning: To be busy but achieve nothing.
In a Sentence: He’s been running in circles all day with no results.
Other Ways to Say: Go nowhere, Waste energy
33. Tread water
Meaning: To maintain a situation without making progress.
In a Sentence: The team is just treading water until the new manager arrives.
Other Ways to Say: Stay stagnant, Hold steady
34. Hang about
Meaning: To spend time doing nothing in particular.
In a Sentence: He hung about the park all day without doing anything.
Other Ways to Say: Loiter, Linger
35. Pass the time of day
Meaning: To chat casually to fill time.
In a Sentence: We passed the time of day with neighbors while waiting.
Other Ways to Say: Chit-chat, Small talk
36. Twiddle your thumbs
Meaning: To wait idly, doing nothing productive.
In a Sentence: I had to twiddle my thumbs until the meeting started.
Other Ways to Say: Wait around, Do nothing
37. Goof off
Meaning: To avoid work or responsibilities by doing unimportant things.
In a Sentence: He’s always goofing off when the boss is away.
Other Ways to Say: Slack off, Laze around
38. Waste breath
Meaning: To speak without effect; pointless effort.
In a Sentence: You’re wasting your breath trying to change his mind.
Other Ways to Say: Talk in vain, Useless effort
39. Beat your head against a wall
Meaning: To try repeatedly to do something without success.
In a Sentence: I feel like I’m beating my head against a wall trying to fix this glitch.
Other Ways to Say: Try in vain, Hit a dead end
40. Go around in circles
Meaning: To repeat the same actions without a solution.
In a Sentence: We’ve been going around in circles in this debate.
Other Ways to Say: Get stuck, Loop pointlessly
41. Drag one’s feet
Meaning: To delay doing something.
In a Sentence: He’s dragging his feet on filing the paperwork.
Other Ways to Say: Stall, Procrastinate
42. Blow off steam
Meaning: To waste time doing fun things to relieve stress.
In a Sentence: I played video games to blow off steam after a stressful day.
Other Ways to Say: Let off pressure, Relax
43. Let things slide
Meaning: To neglect responsibilities or issues.
In a Sentence: He let things slide while he was on vacation.
Other Ways to Say: Overlook, Neglect
44. Daydream
Meaning: To think about pleasant things instead of focusing.
In a Sentence: I was daydreaming during the meeting and missed the key points.
Other Ways to Say: Drift off, Fantasize
45. Dilly-dally
Meaning: To waste time through indecision.
In a Sentence: Don’t dilly-dally, we’ll be late!
Other Ways to Say: Dawdle, Linger
46. Muck about
Meaning: To waste time doing silly things.
In a Sentence: They spent the afternoon mucking about with water balloons.
Other Ways to Say: Mess around, Fool around
47. Waste time on trifles
Meaning: To spend energy on things that don’t matter.
In a Sentence: Stop wasting time on trifles and get to the main point.
Other Ways to Say: Focus on the big picture, Ignore the small stuff
48. Sit on your hands
Meaning: To do nothing when action is needed.
In a Sentence: He sat on his hands while the problem got worse.
Other Ways to Say: Remain passive, Be inactive
49. Take your sweet time
Meaning: To go slowly, often to the point of wasting time.
In a Sentence: She took her sweet time getting ready for the event.
Other Ways to Say: Be slow, Linger unnecessarily
50. Fritter away
Meaning: To gradually waste something, especially time or money.
In a Sentence: He frittered away his entire weekend watching random shows.
Other Ways to Say: Squander, Waste little by little
