Sometimes, we spend time doing things that don’t really help us. Maybe we scroll on our phones too long, or we wait for something that never happens. In those moments, it feels like time is just slipping away. Instead of saying, “I wasted time,” people often use fun or creative phrases called idioms. These idioms make our talking and writing more interesting.
Idioms are groups of words that mean something different than what they say. In this article, we will learn idioms that talk about wasting time. These phrases can help us talk about waiting, doing useless things, or not using time well. You may already know some of them without knowing what they mean. Let’s look at these expressions and how they can be used in everyday life.
Idioms for Wasting Time
1. Beat around the bush
Meaning: Avoid saying something directly.
Within a Sentence: Stop beating around the bush and tell me if I made the team. / He beat around the bush when I asked about my missing toy.
In Other Words: Not getting to the point / Talking too much before saying the real thing
2. Kill time
Meaning: Do something just to pass the time.
Within a Sentence: We played a card game to kill time before dinner. / I drew pictures while waiting to kill time.
In Other Words: Pass the time / Do something while waiting
3. Waste your breath
Meaning: Talk to someone who won’t listen.
Within a Sentence: You’re wasting your breath asking her again. / Dad said I was wasting my breath trying to explain.
In Other Words: Talking for nothing / No one is listening
4. Go in circles
Meaning: Keep doing the same thing without getting anywhere.
Within a Sentence: We went in circles trying to pick a movie. / I felt like I was going in circles with my puzzle.
In Other Words: Getting nowhere / Repeating over and over
5. Fritter away time
Meaning: Use time on unimportant things.
Within a Sentence: I frittered away the morning watching cartoons. / She frittered away time instead of doing homework.
In Other Words: Wasting time / Not doing anything useful
6. Spin your wheels
Meaning: Work hard but not get results.
Within a Sentence: I was spinning my wheels trying to fix the remote. / He spun his wheels on that game level all day.
In Other Words: No progress / Trying and failing
7. On a wild goose chase
Meaning: Looking for something that can’t be found.
Within a Sentence: We went on a wild goose chase for a toy that was sold out. / It was a wild goose chase looking for his missing sock.
In Other Words: Searching for nothing / Chasing something not real
8. Barking up the wrong tree
Meaning: Blaming or looking in the wrong place.
Within a Sentence: You’re barking up the wrong tree I didn’t take your book. / She barked up the wrong tree when she blamed me.
In Other Words: Wrong guess / Looking at the wrong person
9. Blow off
Meaning: Skip or ignore something.
Within a Sentence: He blew off his chores to play games. / She blew off the meeting and went outside.
In Other Words: Ignore / Skip something
10. Hang around
Meaning: Stay somewhere without doing much.
Within a Sentence: We just hung around the mall all afternoon. / He hung around waiting for his friend.
In Other Words: Wait / Do nothing much
11. Drag your feet
Meaning: Move slowly on purpose.
Within a Sentence: He dragged his feet about cleaning his room. / I dragged my feet going to bed.
In Other Words: Stalling / Not hurrying
12. Dilly-dally
Meaning: Waste time by being slow.
Within a Sentence: Stop dilly-dallying and get dressed. / She dilly-dallied before doing her chores.
In Other Words: Take too long / Move slowly
13. Take forever
Meaning: Take a very long time.
Within a Sentence: It took forever to tie my shoes today. / He takes forever in the bathroom.
In Other Words: So slow / Too much time
14. Loaf around
Meaning: Be lazy and do nothing.
Within a Sentence: I loafed around all Saturday. / He just loafs around instead of helping.
In Other Words: Be lazy / Sit and do nothing
15. Twiddle your thumbs
Meaning: Do nothing while waiting.
Within a Sentence: I twiddled my thumbs while waiting at the dentist. / She just twiddled her thumbs during the game delay.
In Other Words: Sit idle / Wait with nothing to do
16. Put it off
Meaning: Delay doing something.
Within a Sentence: I put off my homework until bedtime. / She always puts off doing dishes.
In Other Words: Delay / Wait to start
17. Procrastinate
Meaning: Keep delaying something important.
Within a Sentence: I procrastinated on my science project. / He procrastinated and missed the deadline.
In Other Words: Wait too long / Keep putting it off
18. Sit on your hands
Meaning: Do nothing when you should act.
Within a Sentence: Don’t sit on your hands go help them. / She sat on her hands during cleanup time.
In Other Words: Stay still / Not help
19. Miss the boat
Meaning: Be too late for something.
Within a Sentence: We missed the boat on getting tickets. / He missed the boat for the sign-up.
In Other Words: Too late / Missed your chance
20. Blow your chance
Meaning: Waste an opportunity.
Within a Sentence: He blew his chance to join the team. / I blew my chance by being late.
In Other Words: Messed it up / Missed out
21. Killing time
Meaning: Doing something just to pass time.
Within a Sentence: We were killing time at the park before the movie. / I was killing time by drawing.
In Other Words: Passing time / Doing something while waiting
22. Daydream
Meaning: Letting your mind wander instead of focusing.
Within a Sentence: I daydreamed through math class. / She was daydreaming while brushing her teeth.
In Other Words: Thinking of nothing real / Not paying attention
23. Let the clock run out
Meaning: Let time pass without acting.
Within a Sentence: He let the clock run out on the test. / I let the clock run out instead of doing my turn.
In Other Words: Waited too long / Didn’t do anything
24. Waste time
Meaning: Spend time doing nothing useful.
Within a Sentence: We wasted time talking instead of working. / Don’t waste time on that silly game.
In Other Words: Not useful / Time gone for nothing
25. Tread water
Meaning: Stay in the same place without improving.
Within a Sentence: I felt like I was treading water with that math problem. / She’s treading water with her reading score.
In Other Words: No progress / Staying stuck
26. Goof off
Meaning: Play around instead of working.
Within a Sentence: We goofed off during cleanup time. / He goofs off in class all the time.
In Other Words: Play too much / Not being serious
27. Play around
Meaning: Not take things seriously.
Within a Sentence: He’s playing around instead of helping. / Stop playing around and get to work.
In Other Words: Not focused / Just joking
28. Stare into space
Meaning: Look off and think of nothing.
Within a Sentence: I stared into space during the lesson. / She stared into space on the bus.
In Other Words: Daydreaming / Not aware
29. Run out the clock
Meaning: Try to delay something by waiting.
Within a Sentence: He ran out the clock on his turn. / I ran out the clock to avoid cleaning.
In Other Words: Stalling / Using up time
30. Doodle around
Meaning: Draw or scribble without real purpose.
Within a Sentence: I doodled around in my notebook all class. / She doodled around while we waited.
In Other Words: Not focused / Just passing time
31. Poke around
Meaning: Look slowly without a goal.
Within a Sentence: I poked around in the attic for no reason. / He poked around the room with nothing to do.
In Other Words: Just looking / Not serious
32. Laze about
Meaning: Rest and do nothing active.
Within a Sentence: I lazed about on the couch all Sunday. / They lazed about during the break.
In Other Words: Be lazy / Rest without work
33. Chase your tail
Meaning: Keep busy but get nowhere.
Within a Sentence: I chased my tail all day and finished nothing. / She’s just chasing her tail on that group project.
In Other Words: Busy but stuck / Doing too much for little
34. Waste the day
Meaning: Spend a whole day doing nothing useful.
Within a Sentence: I wasted the day on my phone. / He wasted the day playing video games.
In Other Words: Lost time / Did nothing helpful
35. Take your sweet time
Meaning: Go very slowly.
Within a Sentence: He took his sweet time getting ready. / Don’t take your sweet time with that snack!
In Other Words: Move slow / Not in a hurry
36. Fool around
Meaning: Act silly and not get things done.
Within a Sentence: Stop fooling around and clean your room. / He fooled around in class.
In Other Words: Goof off / Act silly
37. Be behind schedule
Meaning: Not done when it should be.
Within a Sentence: We’re behind schedule with the project. / I was behind schedule on my chores.
In Other Words: Running late / Not on time
38. Piddle away time
Meaning: Waste time doing small things.
Within a Sentence: He piddled away time picking colors. / I piddled away my afternoon.
In Other Words: Used time badly / Took too long
39. Burn daylight
Meaning: Waste part of the day.
Within a Sentence: We’re burning daylight let’s go! / Stop burning daylight and get dressed.
In Other Words: Wasting morning / Losing good time
40. Be all talk and no action
Meaning: Say things but never do them.
Within a Sentence: He’s all talk and no action about helping. / Don’t be all talk get moving!
In Other Words: Says a lot / Does little
41. Take a detour
Meaning: Do something else instead of what’s planned.
Within a Sentence: We took a detour and missed the movie. / I took a detour from homework to draw.
In Other Words: Off track / Not focused
42. Miss the mark
Meaning: Not reach the goal.
Within a Sentence: He missed the mark on his test. / My plan missed the mark.
In Other Words: Not right / Didn’t work
43. Stay idle
Meaning: Not doing anything.
Within a Sentence: The class stayed idle until the teacher came. / I stayed idle during cleanup.
In Other Words: Still / Doing nothing
44. Ramble on
Meaning: Talk too much without a point.
Within a Sentence: He rambled on about video games. / She rambled on instead of telling the answer.
In Other Words: Talk too long / Off topic
45. Be off task
Meaning: Not doing what you’re supposed to.
Within a Sentence: I was off task during writing time. / She stayed off task all morning.
In Other Words: Not focused / Not doing the job
46. Lose track of time
Meaning: Forget how much time has passed.
Within a Sentence: I lost track of time drawing. / He lost track of time playing games.
In Other Words: Didn’t watch the clock / Time passed fast
47. Sleep the day away
Meaning: Spend most of the day sleeping.
Within a Sentence: I slept the day away on Saturday. / He slept the day away after the trip.
In Other Words: Slept a lot / Missed the day
48. Be a time sink
Meaning: Use up a lot of time for little result.
Within a Sentence: That game is a time sink. / Scrolling videos is a time sink.
In Other Words: Big waste of time / Takes too long
49. Be stuck in limbo
Meaning: Waiting without moving forward.
Within a Sentence: We were stuck in limbo waiting for the bus. / She was in limbo before choosing a topic.
In Other Words: On hold / Nothing’s happening
50. Do nothing
Meaning: Be inactive or lazy.
Within a Sentence: I did nothing all day. / He did nothing after school.
In Other Words: Not busy / Resting
51. Pass the time
Meaning: Do something while waiting.
Within a Sentence: We passed the time with games. / I passed the time by coloring.
In Other Words: Keep busy / Fill the wait
52. Not get around to it
Meaning: Keep meaning to do something but never do it.
Within a Sentence: I didn’t get around to cleaning. / He never got around to calling.
In Other Words: Forgot / Didn’t do it
53. Be sidetracked
Meaning: Distracted from the goal.
Within a Sentence: I got sidetracked by TV. / She was sidetracked while doing homework.
In Other Words: Off track / Distracted
54. Take a rain check
Meaning: Postpone something.
Within a Sentence: Can we take a rain check on the game? / She took a rain check on the movie.
In Other Words: Do it later / Not now
55. Circle back
Meaning: Come back to something later.
Within a Sentence: Let’s circle back to that question. / We’ll circle back to the movie later.
In Other Words: Return later / Try again
56. Put on hold
Meaning: Delay something.
Within a Sentence: I put my art on hold to do homework. / The trip was put on hold.
In Other Words: Pause / Stop for now
57. Get sidetracked
Meaning: Get distracted by something else.
Within a Sentence: He got sidetracked by the cat. / I got sidetracked and forgot my goal.
In Other Words: Lost focus / Off plan
58. Wait around
Meaning: Stay and wait for something.
Within a Sentence: We waited around for the show to start. / I waited around all morning.
In Other Words: Delay / Do nothing while waiting
59. Be in a time crunch
Meaning: Not have enough time.
Within a Sentence: I was in a time crunch before practice. / We’re in a time crunch to finish.
In Other Words: Short on time / Hurry
60. Take a long route
Meaning: Do something the hard or slow way.
Within a Sentence: He took a long route to answer the question. / I took a long route to solve it.
In Other Words: Not easy / Made it longer
Idioms for Wasting Time – True/False Quiz
- “Kill time” means to make time go faster while waiting.
True / False - If someone “drags their feet,” they are doing their work quickly.
True / False - “Twiddling your thumbs” means you are very busy.
True / False - Saying “I missed the boat” means you were too late.
True / False - If you “go in circles,” you are making good progress.
True / False - “Dilly-dallying” means you are moving fast to finish something.
True / False - If someone “loafs around,” they are working very hard.
True / False - To “fritter away time” means to use your time wisely.
True / False - “Spinning your wheels” means you are trying hard but getting nowhere.
True / False - If someone is “off task,” they are doing what they’re supposed to do.
True / False - “Burning daylight” means you are using your time wisely.
True / False - “Procrastinating” means you keep delaying something.
True / False - If you “take the long route,” you are doing something the fastest way.
True / False - “Goofing off” means you are focused and serious.
True / False - If someone is “sidetracked,” they are distracted from what they should be doing.
True / False
Answers
- True
- False
- False
- True
- False
- False
- False
- False
- True
- False
- False
- True
- False
- False
- True
Scoring Guide
- 15 Correct Answers: Idioms Master!
- 10–14 Correct Answers: You really get Idioms, nice work!
- 6–9 Correct Answers: You’re learning, keep going!
- 0–5 Correct Answers: Let’s learn about Idioms together!
Conclusion
Wasting time can happen to anyone. Whether it’s waiting, stalling, or just not paying attention, we all do it sometimes. Idioms help us talk about these moments in a fun and simple way.
Now that you’ve learned these idioms, try using them when you speak or write. They can make your stories clearer and more interesting. Keep practicing, and you’ll get even better at using them the right way.
