Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🎶 A light sound 🎶 To play lightly 🚗 To travel slowly
to tootle

to tootle

6.8
To move or travel slowly without a plan
  • verb
  • /ˈtuːtəl/
  • Informal
translation icon : pasear
  • I had then envisaged the two of us tootling up to Athens, catching a ferry down to one of the Greek islands that fringe Turkey's Aegean coast, and from there tootling up to Istanbul.

Examples

  • She loves to tootle down the quiet streets on her bicycle, taking her time to appreciate the flowers.

  • I had then envisaged the two of us tootling up to Athens, catching a ferry down to one of the Greek islands that fringe Turkey's Aegean coast, and from there tootling up to Istanbul.

    Blog text (2)

  • We feel like there is a a self behind the eyes in the head somewhere tootling about doing our daily business.

  • I was tootling along nicely until I got a block past the main thoroughfare in Chapala and came to a screeching halt.

    Blog text (24)

  • WHITEHALL STREETS - DAY: Past obscure imperial statues, a tiny micro Messerschmidt bubble car tootles down deserted streets.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • On sunny weekends, I often tootle around the park, enjoying the fresh air and scenery.

  • After lunch, we decided to tootle along the riverbank, stopping to watch the ducks swim.

Synonyms

to wander
vsto tootle
379 1.3

Move around without a fixed direction, often slowly and in curves

is more aimless and less about winding routes
to roam
vsto tootle
189 2.5

Move around without a fixed place, often while looking for something

is casual movement without the searching or exploring focus
to ramble
vsto tootle
14 4.4

To walk for pleasure without a fixed route

is more general and not always pleasure focused
to cruise around
vsto tootle
12 4.1

To drive slowly around an area without a specific destination

is more general and not limited to vehicles
to traipse
vsto tootle
8 7.6

To walk around without a clear plan, often slowly and without much energy

is the neutral relaxed movement without the low energy tone
to tootle along
vsto tootle
  • UK
1 7.9

To go slowly and enjoy the journey

is the base term without the added sense of continuous motion
to toodle
vsto tootle
  • UK
1 8.6

To travel slowly without a fixed plan for pleasure

is a spelling variant used as a simpler form
to tootle around
vsto tootle
  • UK
8.4

To travel slowly without a clear plan

is the base term without the explicit about or area nuance
to trapes around
vsto tootle
9.6

Walk around slowly without a plan

is broader and not only about walking movement

Antonyms

to hurry
∞ 1.0

To move or act quickly because there is little time

to rush
548 1.0

To move or act quickly because a situation needs it

Phrasal Verbs

to tootle along
  • UK
1 7.9

To go slowly and enjoy the journey

to tootle around
  • UK
8.4

To travel slowly without a clear plan

How Fast

to speed
191 1.0
to tootle
  • Informal
6.8
to amble
15 4.8
to dawdle
17 5.0
to crawl
406 1.0

Surface Forms

tootle infinitive
tootled past
tootled past participle
tootling present participle
tootles third person singular

Morphology

tootle = toot (semi-transparent) = toot + le

The form still clearly relates to 'toot' and 'tootle' in the musical sense, but the relaxed movement meaning is a figurative extension that is not fully predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

Tootle is like the soft sound toot ('short horn sound'), and a helpful way to remember it is to imagine that sound moving along slowly, which is why to tootle can mean 'move in a relaxed, casual way'.