at loose ends
2
7.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
sin rumbo
- After finishing college, I felt at loose ends without a job or clear direction.
- feel at loose ends
- find myself at loose ends
- left at loose ends
Examples
-
After Abilene, Bill was at loose ends.
-
He was soon to turn forty; he was at loose ends, and again as alienated as ever.
Academic text (1997) -
Yeah, you have the look about you of a man at loose ends.
-
Since we"re at loose ends maybe I can take care of something else.
-
So I'm at loose ends, so to speak.
-
You seem to be a promising young warrior, and you are at loose ends in this city.
Fiction book (1990) -
I was at loose ends that night, distraught about everything.
Fiction book (1990) -
Unlike my so-successful sister, Rose, I am at loose ends.
Fiction book (1996) -
She just broke up with her boyfriend, so she's a bit at loose ends.
-
Between my horror at what's happened down at Dovetree and my hopes and fears for my own people, I'm upset and at loose ends and, perhaps, just imagining things.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
28
4.2
Not knowing what to do or say
23
5.6
Not having a clear direction or purpose
13
3.6
Not having a clear goal or plan
6
5.1
Feeling confused or lost about your place among others
6
1.0
Confused and unsure what to do or where to go
4
6.0
Having no clear aim or plan
1
7.8
A situation with no decision or guidance that leaves people unsure
Not sure what to do or where to go
Antonyms
How Occupied
Surface Forms
Morphology
The words 'loose' and 'ends' can suggest 'unresolved or untidy matters' (a loose end), so there is a recognizable link to disorder or incompleteness. However, the adjectival phrase 'at loose ends' meaning 'idle, directionless, or uncertain' is an idiomatic extension of that imagery and is not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so a B1 learner would likely need prior exposure to be confident of the meaning.
Etymology
The idiom at loose ends may come from the image of a rope or piece of cloth with loose ends that are not tied or finished. So, if you are at loose ends you are like those loose threads, untied and without a clear task, feeling 'uncertain' or with nothing definite to do.