to moon around
1
8.1
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
vagar
- Shame on you, Ruby, mooning around the house after that mad dog of a man.
Examples
-
She tends to moon around in the park, lost in her thoughts while watching the clouds.
-
After failing his exam, he spent the day mooning around the house instead of studying.
-
Finally, my Aunt Dee got tired of me mooning around, as she called it.
Fiction book (1991) -
No more midnight star-gazing and mooning around for Richard.
Academic text (1999) -
I mooned around.
Fiction book (2001) -
Instead of concentrating on his work, he was mooning around, daydreaming about his upcoming vacation.
Synonyms
52
4.6
To feel sad and move slowly with little energy
43
3.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
20
5.8
Move slowly around a place because you feel sad or bored
8
7.4
To spend time thinking and not pay attention
4
7.3
Waste time by acting silly instead of working
3
7.9
Spend time doing very little or nothing
1
9.2
To spend time doing small unimportant things instead of working
1
4.4
To spend time doing very little and relaxing
1
8.1
To walk or sit around slowly while feeling sad and lost in thought
To sit or stand and stare while lost in thought
To behave in a dreamy, distracted way because you long for someone
How Aimless
- Informal
4
7.7
- Informal
1
8.1
26
5.4
- UK
1
6.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to spend time in a dreamy, distracted, or aimless way' follows directly from combining 'moon' (to daydream) with 'around' (aimlessly/moving about). This verb + particle composition is a common, predictable pattern in English, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Moon around may come from the image of the moon slowly moving across the sky while someone stands and looks dreamy, not doing much. So, to moon around means 'to spend time daydreaming or doing nothing'.