to moon about
1
8.1
- phrasal verb
- UK
:
vagar
- I wasn't going to moon about it.
Examples
-
Instead of studying for her exams, she kept mooning about, lost in nostalgic memories.
-
And you can stop mooning about your long-lost father, too.
Fiction book (1993) -
Still mooning about Jimmy, huh?
-
And do stop mooning about Susan.
-
Go back to Tony's and that woman you were mooning about.
-
One of them is always mooning about Allan Grant; the other, the little kid, is always crying.
Fiction book (1992) -
I pictured myself paying rent on the empty place, in no hurry to get rid of this souvenir, mooning about inside.
Fiction book (1994) -
You know, mooning about.
-
After their breakup, he spent his days mooning about, lost in thoughts of what could have been.
-
She was mooning about the park, staring at the clouds and dreaming of better times.
Synonyms
52
4.6
To feel sad and move slowly with little energy
8
7.4
To spend time thinking and not pay attention
1
8.1
To spend time daydreaming and doing nothing useful
To sit or stand and stare while lost in thought
How Despondent
Surface Forms
Morphology
moon + about
Given the verb 'moon' meaning 'to spend time daydreaming' and the particle 'about' with a sense of 'around' or aimless movement, the combined meaning 'to behave dreamily or listlessly' is directly derivable from the parts. The construction follows a common English verb + particle pattern (cf. 'mooning around'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would very likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Moon about may come from the image of someone standing under the moon, moving slowly and wandering about with a sad, dreamy look. That's why it means 'to wander around looking sad or lost in thought'.