Idioms for wasting time offer vivid ways to describe delays, distractions, and unproductive behavior. Whether you’re killing time or dragging your feet, these expressions capture the essence of procrastination.

Use these idioms to bring humor, relatability, or emphasis to those moments when time just seems to slip away unnoticed.

1. Killing time

Meaning: Doing something to pass the time without purpose.
In a Sentence: I played games just to kill time before my appointment.
Other Ways to Say: Passing time, biding time, whiling away the hours

2. Twiddling your thumbs

Meaning: Sitting idle with nothing useful to do.
In a Sentence: He just sat there twiddling his thumbs while others worked.
Other Ways to Say: Doing nothing, wasting away, sitting around

3. Dragging your feet

Meaning: Delaying or postponing something intentionally.
In a Sentence: She’s dragging her feet about making a decision.
Other Ways to Say: Stalling, hesitating, putting it off

4. Spinning your wheels

Meaning: Making no progress despite putting in effort.
In a Sentence: I’ve been spinning my wheels on this project all week.
Other Ways to Say: Going in circles, stuck in a rut, getting nowhere

5. Beating around the bush

Meaning: Avoiding the main topic or delaying the point.
In a Sentence: Stop beating around the bush and just answer the question.
Other Ways to Say: Evading, stalling, circling the topic

6. Fritter away time

Meaning: Waste time on unimportant things.
In a Sentence: He frittered away the entire day on social media.
Other Ways to Say: Squander time, idle away time, waste hours

7. Goofing off

Meaning: Avoiding work by playing or wasting time.
In a Sentence: The kids were goofing off instead of doing homework.
Other Ways to Say: Slacking, messing around, playing around

8. Killing the clock

Meaning: Using up time deliberately, especially in sports or waiting.
In a Sentence: The team was just killing the clock in the final minutes.
Other Ways to Say: Running down the clock, delaying, buying time

9. On a wild goose chase

Meaning: Wasting time pursuing something futile.
In a Sentence: I went on a wild goose chase looking for that lost file.
Other Ways to Say: Chasing shadows, dead end, pointless search

10. At a snail’s pace

Meaning: Moving or progressing extremely slowly.
In a Sentence: The project is moving at a snail’s pace.
Other Ways to Say: Taking forever, crawling, inching along

11. Stuck in a rut

Meaning: Trapped in a monotonous, unproductive routine.
In a Sentence: I feel stuck in a rut doing the same things every day.
Other Ways to Say: Spinning wheels, going nowhere, trapped

12. Procrastinating

Meaning: Delaying or postponing tasks unnecessarily.
In a Sentence: I kept procrastinating and missed the deadline.
Other Ways to Say: Putting off, dragging feet, delaying

13. Beat the air

Meaning: Making a useless effort.
In a Sentence: Arguing with him is like beating the air.
Other Ways to Say: Wasting breath, futile effort, pointless struggle

14. Wasting breath

Meaning: Speaking or arguing when it won’t matter.
In a Sentence: You’re wasting your breath trying to change his mind.
Other Ways to Say: Talking to a wall, pointless discussion, falling on deaf ears

15. Playing for time

Meaning: Deliberately delaying to gain an advantage.
In a Sentence: She was just playing for time until help arrived.
Other Ways to Say: Buying time, stalling, dragging out

16. Going in circles

Meaning: Making no progress despite repeated effort.
In a Sentence: We’re going in circles with this planning.
Other Ways to Say: Spinning wheels, back and forth, stuck

17. Daydreaming

Meaning: Lost in thoughts instead of focusing.
In a Sentence: He spent the whole class daydreaming.
Other Ways to Say: Spacing out, woolgathering, zoning out

18. Time slipping through your fingers

Meaning: Realizing time is passing without using it wisely.
In a Sentence: The deadline’s near, and time is slipping through my fingers.
Other Ways to Say: Losing track of time, running out of time, time flying

19. Passing the time

Meaning: Doing something just to keep busy while waiting.
In a Sentence: I read a magazine to pass the time in the waiting room.
Other Ways to Say: Killing time, filling time, occupying yourself

20. Dilly-dally

Meaning: Wasting time by being slow or indecisive.
In a Sentence: Stop dilly-dallying and get dressed!
Other Ways to Say: Dawdle, mess around, drag your feet

21. Dawdling

Meaning: Moving slowly without urgency.
In a Sentence: The kids were dawdling on the way to school.
Other Ways to Say: Loitering, stalling, lagging

22. Loafing around

Meaning: Being lazy and doing nothing useful.
In a Sentence: He spent the day loafing around the house.
Other Ways to Say: Lazing, slacking, lounging

23. Going nowhere fast

Meaning: Making no meaningful progress.
In a Sentence: This conversation is going nowhere fast.
Other Ways to Say: Dead end, unproductive, stuck

24. Blowing time

Meaning: Spending time carelessly or wastefully.
In a Sentence: I blew the whole afternoon watching videos.
Other Ways to Say: Wasting time, frittering, squandering hours

25. Foot-dragging

Meaning: Delaying action deliberately.
In a Sentence: There’s been a lot of foot-dragging over the new policy.
Other Ways to Say: Stalling, delaying, hesitating

26. Kicking the can down the road

Meaning: Postponing decisions or actions.
In a Sentence: They’re just kicking the can down the road again.
Other Ways to Say: Avoiding, deferring, delaying action

27. Marking time

Meaning: Waiting without progress or meaningful activity.
In a Sentence: I’m just marking time until the project starts.
Other Ways to Say: Killing time, on hold, idle

28. Time-waster

Meaning: A person or activity that consumes time pointlessly.
In a Sentence: That meeting was a total time-waster.
Other Ways to Say: Distraction, delay, inefficiency

29. Shooting the breeze

Meaning: Engaging in casual, pointless conversation.
In a Sentence: We sat around shooting the breeze all afternoon.
Other Ways to Say: Chatting, small talk, talking nonsense

30. Watching the paint dry

Meaning: Doing something extremely boring or slow.
In a Sentence: That lecture was like watching paint dry.
Other Ways to Say: Dull, monotonous, mind-numbing

31. Playing around

Meaning: Not being serious or productive.
In a Sentence: He’s just playing around instead of working.
Other Ways to Say: Goofing off, messing about, wasting time

32. Horsing around

Meaning: Being silly or playful when focus is needed.
In a Sentence: Stop horsing around and get to work!
Other Ways to Say: Goofing off, clowning, messing about

33. Off task

Meaning: Not focused on the assigned job or goal.
In a Sentence: The students were completely off task during class.
Other Ways to Say: Distracted, not focused, losing track

34. A waste of time

Meaning: An activity that yields no value or result.
In a Sentence: That meeting was a complete waste of time.
Other Ways to Say: Pointless, futile, useless effort

35. Pushing paper

Meaning: Doing unimportant or bureaucratic work.
In a Sentence: I’m tired of just pushing paper all day.
Other Ways to Say: Red tape, administrative busywork, going through the motions

MCQs on Idioms for Wasting Time

1. What does the idiom “twiddling your thumbs” mean?

A. Thinking deeply
B. Waiting idly without doing anything productive
C. Using your phone
D. Writing something
Answer: B. Waiting idly without doing anything productive

2. Which idiom means “to waste time while waiting for something”?

A. Watching the paint dry
B. Killing time
C. Playing around
D. Beating the air
Answer: B. Killing time

3. If someone is “dragging their feet”, what are they doing?

A. Walking slowly
B. Refusing to move
C. Delaying something intentionally
D. Running quickly
Answer: C. Delaying something intentionally

4. What does the idiom “on a wild goose chase” suggest?

A. Searching successfully
B. Pursuing something fun
C. Following a pointless or impossible task
D. Hunting for animals
Answer: C. Following a pointless or impossible task

5. “Spinning your wheels” best describes which situation?

A. Driving too fast
B. Making no progress despite effort
C. Skipping work
D. Changing direction quickly
Answer: B. Making no progress despite effort

6. What does “playing for time” mean?

A. Wasting time unintentionally
B. Buying time by delaying intentionally
C. Enjoying free time
D. Running out of time
Answer: B. Buying time by delaying intentionally

7. If someone is “goofing off”, what are they doing?

A. Sleeping
B. Working hard
C. Avoiding work by messing around
D. Fixing mistakes
Answer: C. Avoiding work by messing around

8. Which idiom refers to being lazy or doing nothing useful?

A. Foot-dragging
B. Loafing around
C. Playing for time
D. Marking time
Answer: B. Loafing around

9. What does “watching the paint dry” mean?

A. Doing something extremely boring
B. Painting something slowly
C. Focusing on details
D. Painting creatively
Answer: A. Doing something extremely boring

10. Which idiom means “avoiding direct communication or the point”?

A. Dilly-dally
B. Beating around the bush
C. Off task
D. Blowing time
Answer: B. Beating around the bush

11. “Time slipping through your fingers” describes:

A. Time freezing
B. Using time efficiently
C. Losing time without realizing
D. Grabbing every moment
Answer: C. Losing time without realizing

12. What does “pushing paper” imply?

A. Moving quickly
B. Doing meaningful work
C. Performing routine or bureaucratic tasks
D. Organizing files
Answer: C. Performing routine or bureaucratic tasks

13. If someone is “marking time”, they are:

A. Measuring productivity
B. Tracking hours
C. Waiting without real progress
D. Counting days
Answer: C. Waiting without real progress

14. What is a “time-waster”?

A. A device that tracks time
B. A schedule planner
C. An unproductive activity or person
D. A stopwatch
Answer: C. An unproductive activity or person

15. If you’re “dilly-dallying”, what are you doing?

A. Making quick decisions
B. Wasting time by being slow
C. Running errands
D. Being productive
Answer: B. Wasting time by being slow

Conclusion

Understanding idioms for wasting time enriches your vocabulary and helps capture everyday inefficiencies in vivid, relatable ways. These expressions are not just humorous they reflect habits we all fall into. Whether you’re stuck in a rut or just killing time, idioms help tell your story clearly. Use them wisely and don’t fritter away your words. Let language work for you, not against the clock.