1 C1 idiomatic informal
To waste time on unimportant or trivial activities without accomplishing anything.
"He spent the whole morning footling around and missed the meeting."
inseparable
footle around
C1 informal inseparable intransitive
To waste time doing trivial or pointless things; to act ineffectually.
In plain English
Do nothing useful — just mess around with unimportant things.
What does "footle around" mean?
One main meaning — here's how to use it.
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To move around in the manner of someone who footles — fussing over trifles.
Actually means
Do nothing useful — just mess around with unimportant things.
Usage tip
British English, decidedly old-fashioned. Virtually interchangeable with 'footle about'. More likely to be encountered in classic British literature than in modern speech.
Words that pair with "footle around"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
time afternoon matters day
How to conjugate "footle around"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
footle around
I/you/we/they
3rd person
footles around
he/she/it
Past simple
footled around
yesterday
Past participle
footled around
have + pp
-ing form
footling around
continuous
Hear "footle around" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "footle around" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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