Synonyms and antonyms of To waste time, or to pass time doing unimportant things in British Thesaurus

fritter away ()

to waste time or money on things that are not necessary or important

fiddle around ()

to waste time doing things that are not important or useful

knock around ()

to spend time somewhere with no particular purpose

loaf (verb)

informal to spend time doing nothing, usually when you should be working

mess about ()

to waste time doing things that are not important

reinvent the wheel ()

to waste time and effort trying to do something that someone else has already done well

kill time ()

to make time seem to pass more quickly by doing something instead of just waiting

pass the time ()

to prevent yourself from becoming bored by doing something, often something that you are not really interested in

kick your heels ()

to waste time waiting for someone or something

fiddle while Rome burns ()

to be busy doing unimportant things when you should be dealing with an important problem

arse around (British)

Britishimpolite to waste your time, especially by behaving in a way that is not sensible

beat/flog a dead horse ()

to waste time on something that you know is not going to happen

be tilting at windmills ()

to be wasting time dealing with problems that do not really exist

bugger about (British)

Britishimpolite to waste time behaving in a silly way

dilly-dally (verb)

informal old-fashioned to waste time

faff about ()

to waste time doing things that are not important or necessary

fart about (impolite)

impolite to waste time doing silly or unimportant things

footle (verb)

informal to waste time doing things that are not important or necessary

frig around (offensive)

offensive to spend time doing things that are not important

fuck around (offensive)

offensive an extremely offensive expression that means to waste time, especially by doing things that are silly or unnecessary

goof off (mainly American)

mainly American to waste time when you should be working

jack around ()

to waste time doing stupid things

mess about ()

to spend time doing things in a relaxed way

mess about ()

to try to change or repair something, especially when this is unnecessary or unsuccessful

mooch around (informal)

informal to spend time in a place without any particular purpose

moon around (informal)

informal to spend time doing nothing useful or important

moon over (informal)

informal to spend time thinking about someone who you are attracted to rather than doing anything useful

muck about ()

to waste time, especially when you should be doing something useful or paying attention

muck up (Australian)

Australian to behave badly or in a silly way that wastes time

piddle around (informal)

informal to spend time doing things that are not important

piss about (impolite)

impolite to waste time by doing things that are silly or not important

ponce about ()

to waste time, especially by appearing to be busy or popular

pootle about (British)

Britishinformal to spend time doing things that you enjoy but that are not important

screw around ()

to waste time in silly or useless activities

split hairs ()

to argue or worry about very small details or differences that are not important