Idioms are creative phrases that bring a fun twist to everyday conversations. While they don’t always mean what the words literally say, they help us express ideas in clever and imaginative ways. For anyone looking to talk about how time seems to slip away—or how we sometimes let it—we’ve got the perfect list of idioms just for that!
Talking about wasting time isn’t always easy. Whether you’re stuck in a boring meeting, scrolling endlessly on your phone, or procrastinating your to-do list, these idioms can help explain it all with a splash of humor and style. This post covers some of the most commonly used idioms that describe delays, distractions, and moments when we let time pass without much to show for it. You’ll not only learn their meanings but also how to use them naturally in real-life conversations.
So if you’ve ever felt like the day disappeared in a blink or wondered where all your productivity went, these expressions will feel very relatable. Let’s dive into this playful list of idioms that capture the art of wasting time.
Idioms for Wasting Time
1. Fiddle while Rome burns
Meaning: To waste time doing something unimportant while serious problems are happening.
In a Sentence: He fiddled while Rome burned, watching TV while his project deadline slipped away.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore the real issue, Be careless during a crisis
2. Kill time
Meaning: To do something unimportant just to pass time.
In a Sentence: I played mobile games in the waiting room just to kill time before my appointment.
Other Ways to Say: Pass the time, Waste some time
3. Beat around the bush
Meaning: To avoid getting to the point, especially during conversations.
In a Sentence: Instead of giving a clear answer, she kept beating around the bush and wasted everyone’s time.
Other Ways to Say: Stall, Avoid the main issue
4. Spin your wheels
Meaning: To put in effort without making any real progress.
In a Sentence: I spent hours editing the same sentence—I was just spinning my wheels at that point.
Other Ways to Say: Go nowhere, Waste energy
5. Drag your feet
Meaning: To do something slowly on purpose, often to delay it.
In a Sentence: He dragged his feet getting ready, hoping the event would be canceled.
Other Ways to Say: Stall, Delay on purpose
6. Go around in circles
Meaning: To keep doing the same thing without achieving anything.
In a Sentence: Our team meeting went around in circles without making a final decision.
Other Ways to Say: Be unproductive, Get stuck
7. Waste breath
Meaning: To say something even though it won’t make a difference.
In a Sentence: I tried convincing her to stop procrastinating, but it felt like a total waste of breath.
Other Ways to Say: Speak in vain, Talk to a wall
8. Blowing off steam
Meaning: To do something just to relieve stress, often without a clear purpose.
In a Sentence: I spent the afternoon gaming—not to achieve anything, but just to blow off steam.
Other Ways to Say: Relax aimlessly, Vent frustration
9. Much ado about nothing
Meaning: A lot of fuss or time spent on something unimportant.
In a Sentence: The meeting lasted two hours, but in the end, it was much ado about nothing.
Other Ways to Say: Make a big deal out of nothing, Overreact
10. Chase your tail
Meaning: To be busy doing a lot of things but accomplishing very little.
In a Sentence: I chased my tail all morning, running errands that didn’t even matter in the end.
Other Ways to Say: Waste effort, Get nowhere
11. Whistle in the wind
Meaning: To do something pointless or without result.
In a Sentence: Trying to get him to finish his homework early is like whistling in the wind.
Other Ways to Say: Act without effect, Do something futile
12. Miss the boat
Meaning: To miss an opportunity due to wasting time.
In a Sentence: I kept thinking about it and missed the boat on buying those sale tickets.
Other Ways to Say: Be too late, Lose the chance
13. Twiddle your thumbs
Meaning: To be idle and do nothing productive.
In a Sentence: I was twiddling my thumbs while waiting for the slow computer to load.
Other Ways to Say: Sit around, Be inactive
14. Go down a rabbit hole
Meaning: To get deeply involved in something that ends up wasting a lot of time.
In a Sentence: I searched one recipe, and four hours later I was still in a YouTube rabbit hole.
Other Ways to Say: Get lost in distractions, Waste time unintentionally
15. Piddle around
Meaning: To do small unimportant things instead of something productive.
In a Sentence: I spent the entire afternoon piddling around with my desk clutter.
Other Ways to Say: Waste time, Be unproductive
16. Hold up the show
Meaning: To cause delays or slow things down for everyone.
In a Sentence: His constant questions during the presentation really held up the show.
Other Ways to Say: Cause a delay, Slow things down
17. Drag it out
Meaning: To make something last longer than necessary.
In a Sentence: She dragged out the meeting by repeating the same points again and again.
Other Ways to Say: Prolong needlessly, Stretch out
18. Sit on your hands
Meaning: To do nothing when action is needed.
In a Sentence: While everyone worked on the project, he just sat on his hands.
Other Ways to Say: Be inactive, Avoid helping
19. Waste time on trifles
Meaning: To focus on things that are too small or unimportant.
In a Sentence: We wasted so much time on trifles instead of planning the main event.
Other Ways to Say: Get caught up in details, Focus on nonsense
20. Let time slip away
Meaning: To allow time to pass without using it well.
In a Sentence: I let time slip away and didn’t get any of my tasks done.
Other Ways to Say: Lose track of time, Miss opportunities
21. Dilly-dally
Meaning: To waste time by being slow or indecisive.
In a Sentence: Stop dilly-dallying or we’ll miss the bus!
Other Ways to Say: Stall, Take too long
22. Loaf around
Meaning: To spend time doing nothing or relaxing lazily.
In a Sentence: I just loafed around all Saturday instead of cleaning my room.
Other Ways to Say: Lounge, Be lazy
23. Go off on a tangent
Meaning: To start talking about something unrelated, wasting time.
In a Sentence: Our study session turned into a time-wasting mess when he went off on a tangent about video games.
Other Ways to Say: Get sidetracked, Wander off topic
24. Lollygag
Meaning: To move slowly or spend time in a relaxed, lazy way.
In a Sentence: We would’ve been on time if we hadn’t lollygagged at the store.
Other Ways to Say: Linger, Waste time
25. Procrastinate
Meaning: To delay doing something important by doing other things instead.
In a Sentence: I procrastinated all weekend and didn’t even start my science project.
Other Ways to Say: Put it off, Avoid the task
26. Waste time daydreaming
Meaning: To get lost in your thoughts instead of staying focused.
In a Sentence: I wasted half the class daydreaming instead of taking notes.
Other Ways to Say: Be distracted, Zone out
27. Zone out
Meaning: To stop paying attention and lose focus.
In a Sentence: I totally zoned out during the lecture and didn’t hear a thing.
Other Ways to Say: Space out, Mentally drift
28. Blow the day
Meaning: To spend an entire day doing nothing meaningful.
In a Sentence: I blew the whole day watching random videos online.
Other Ways to Say: Waste the day, Lose time
29. Waste the clock
Meaning: To use up time without purpose, often intentionally.
In a Sentence: The team wasted the clock instead of trying to score again.
Other Ways to Say: Run the time out, Stall
30. Binge-watch
Meaning: To watch multiple episodes or shows back-to-back for a long time.
In a Sentence: I binge-watched the entire season instead of writing my essay.
Other Ways to Say: Watch endlessly, Get stuck on TV
31. Throw away time
Meaning: To waste time on things that don’t matter.
In a Sentence: I threw away my afternoon arguing over a silly misunderstanding.
Other Ways to Say: Waste hours, Spend time unwisely
32. Drown in distractions
Meaning: To get overwhelmed by things that take your attention away.
In a Sentence: I planned to study, but I drowned in distractions like texts and social media.
Other Ways to Say: Lose focus, Be sidetracked
33. Get caught in a time trap
Meaning: To unintentionally spend too much time on something that isn’t important.
In a Sentence: I got caught in a time trap scrolling through memes for hours.
Other Ways to Say: Waste time accidentally, Lose hours unknowingly
34. Waste time spinning stories
Meaning: To talk or imagine things instead of doing actual work.
In a Sentence: He wasted time spinning stories about his weekend instead of helping with the group assignment.
Other Ways to Say: Ramble on, Get lost in stories
35. Fritter away time
Meaning: To gradually waste time doing little things that aren’t productive.
In a Sentence: I frittered away the morning checking notifications and never got started on my paper.
Other Ways to Say: Use time poorly, Let the day slip by
36. Waste the day away
Meaning: To spend the entire day doing nothing worthwhile.
In a Sentence: I wasted the day away watching clouds and listening to music instead of finishing chores.
Other Ways to Say: Be unproductive all day, Do nothing useful
37. Goof off
Meaning: To avoid work or responsibility by playing or relaxing.
In a Sentence: We were supposed to study, but we ended up goofing off the whole time.
Other Ways to Say: Mess around, Slack off
38. Lose track of time
Meaning: To be so absorbed in something that you forget how much time has passed.
In a Sentence: I was so caught up in doodling that I completely lost track of time.
Other Ways to Say: Forget the time, Let hours slip by
39. Waste your breath
Meaning: To talk when no one is listening or nothing will change.
In a Sentence: Telling him to stop scrolling was a waste of breath—he didn’t even look up.
Other Ways to Say: Talk pointlessly, Say things that don’t matter
40. Make a song and dance about it
Meaning: To spend too much time making a big deal out of something unimportant.
In a Sentence: He made a song and dance about the seating arrangement instead of starting the event.
Other Ways to Say: Overdramatize, Be overly dramatic
41. Bury your head in the sand
Meaning: To avoid facing something by pretending it doesn’t exist.
In a Sentence: She buried her head in the sand instead of checking the long to-do list.
Other Ways to Say: Ignore responsibility, Avoid problems
42. Watch paint dry
Meaning: To do something extremely boring and time-wasting.
In a Sentence: That lecture was like watching paint dry—I didn’t learn a thing.
Other Ways to Say: Be bored stiff, Waste time painfully
43. Take forever
Meaning: To take an unusually long time to do something.
In a Sentence: He took forever getting ready, and we missed the beginning of the show.
Other Ways to Say: Be extremely slow, Delay everything
44. Waste time talking in circles
Meaning: To repeat the same points in conversation without progress.
In a Sentence: The meeting wasted time talking in circles about the same old issues.
Other Ways to Say: Be repetitive, Go nowhere
45. Sit around
Meaning: To do nothing useful while waiting or avoiding activity.
In a Sentence: I sat around all morning, hoping motivation would magically appear.
Other Ways to Say: Be idle, Do nothing
46. Slack off
Meaning: To avoid work or responsibility.
In a Sentence: I slacked off all week and now I’m stuck doing everything at the last minute.
Other Ways to Say: Be lazy, Skip work
47. Take your sweet time
Meaning: To do something slowly when there’s no need to.
In a Sentence: He took his sweet time picking a snack while everyone else waited to leave.
Other Ways to Say: Move slowly, Not be in a rush
48. Sleep the day away
Meaning: To spend most of the day sleeping, often avoiding tasks.
In a Sentence: I slept the day away and now I feel even more behind on everything.
Other Ways to Say: Oversleep, Miss the day
49. Drown in mindless tasks
Meaning: To keep doing unimportant things instead of real work.
In a Sentence: I drowned in mindless tasks like sorting papers just to avoid cleaning the garage.
Other Ways to Say: Be busy doing nothing, Waste time with little tasks
50. Run out the clock
Meaning: To delay or do nothing while waiting for time to end.
In a Sentence: He ran out the clock in the last minutes of class instead of finishing his essay.
Other Ways to Say: Stall till the end, Wait time out
Exercise to Practice
Fill in the blanks:
- I completely lost _______ of time while watching videos online.
- She spent the afternoon _______ her thumbs instead of helping.
- He always _______ off during study time and then panics at the last minute.
- We _______ away the morning chatting and forgot about the deadline.
- I tried giving advice, but it was a total waste of _______.
- After that meeting, I realized we had gone _______ in circles.
- I slept the day _______ and now my list of chores is even longer.
- She always takes her sweet _______ getting ready.
- I fell into a YouTube rabbit _______ and didn’t even notice the sun had set.
- He buried his head in the _______ instead of facing the problem.
- We were just sitting _______ doing nothing for hours.
- He blew the entire _______ playing mobile games.
Answers:
track, twiddling, goofs, frittered, breath, around, away, time, hole, sand, around, day
Conclusion
Wasting time is something we all do sometimes, whether it’s on purpose or without even realizing it. These idioms help us describe those moments in vivid and often funny ways. By using expressions like twiddle your thumbs or go down a rabbit hole, we can communicate more clearly—and maybe even remind ourselves to stay focused when it counts.
Try using some of these idioms in your everyday conversations, especially when you catch yourself delaying, procrastinating, or getting stuck in distractions. The more you practice them, the more natural they’ll become in your vocabulary. Language is powerful, and knowing the right idioms can help you express even your laziest days with a little extra flair!
