to diddle
6
7.2
- verb
- /ˈdɪdəl/
- Informal
:
perder el tiempo
- Stop diddling around and get to work on that report; it is due tomorrow.
- diddle around
Examples
-
You know, just diddling around... woodcarving, you know, finding a pretty shape, like most of my poetry.
-
Well, if you wouldn't have wasted so much time diddling about with amateurs, you might've been able to properly train your cast.
-
And we're going to diddle around a little bit with a question of how to truncate these series.
-
Rule one is you don't diddle around with a witness.
Fiction book (1992) -
And they're still, you know, diddling around with the same script they were working on three years ago.
-
You'd just be diddling around with a market that needs people to get real and start changing the way they think about their relationship with fossil fuel.
Blog text (23) -
They spent the entire afternoon diddling around instead of finishing their project.
-
She always tends to diddle when she should be studying for important exams.
Synonyms
88
2.1
Act in a foolish or playful way without taking things seriously
46
3.6
Act in a silly, playful way instead of working
42
4.6
To act silly and playful without doing anything serious
4
7.3
Waste time by acting silly instead of working
3
3.5
To act in a careless, playful way instead of doing something important
1
8.7
To waste time doing small unimportant things
1
9.2
To spend time doing small unimportant things instead of working
1
8.7
To spend time doing things that are not important
1
9.9
To waste time by behaving in a silly or unproductive way instead of working
1
9.9
To waste time doing unimportant or silly things instead of doing something important
1
9.9
To waste time doing silly or lazy things instead of useful work
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
1
9.9
Act in a foolish, annoying way instead of being serious
To spend time doing small unimportant things with no real plan
Spend time or money on unimportant things
Act in a silly, aimless way and waste time
To act in a silly, playful way instead of being serious
Antonyms
How Productive
Surface Forms
Etymology
Diddle meaning 'to waste time' can be remembered like dilly-dally or fiddle around, both showing play instead of work. That's why to diddle around is to fool time away rather than be serious.