to fritter
4
6.8
- verb
- /ˈfrɪtər/
:
malgastar
- Maybe you'll grow up to be an engineer and not fritter away your time playin' worthless ball games.
The bad person who's just scattered all over all sorts of stuff and frittering their life and their time away doesn't realize that that's going on.
- The bad person who's just scattered all over all sorts of stuff and frittering their life and their time away doesn't realize that that's going on.
- They're just kind of doing nothing or they're frittering away their time.
- Time would be mindlessly allowed to fly by and be frittered away.
- But when this idea, this purpose starts to fritter away and people lose it, a kind of collective madness ensues.
Examples
-
Don't fritter away time and effort.
Fiction book (1999) -
But you won't get it if you fritter your life away in this town.
-
This is how many women fritter away time on the wrong guys.
Blog text (14) -
Yet, most of us are willing to fritter away privacy as if it were loose change.
Academic text (2004) -
If they simply take federal money and fritter it, while not investing any of their own money in the project, they win.
Blog text (32) -
Not performing well academically is to fritter away state property.
Academic text (1999) -
They're just kind of doing nothing or they're frittering away their time.
-
You've begun aging at last, yet you fritter away your moments impressing this foolish girl.
Fiction book (2002) -
But I am suddenly haunted by the thought that escaping seems immoral, and it fritters away precious time that's simply running out.
Blog text (27) -
Don't fritter away your time on social media when you have a project to finish.
Synonyms
728
1.6
To spend time doing things that are not useful instead of doing something more useful
67
6.5
To use money, time, or chances in a foolish way
52
8.6
To spend money quickly on things you do not need
23
6.4
To waste money by spending it carelessly
4
6.0
Waste time or money on small unimportant things
3
7.0
To use money or energy in a foolish, wasteful way
1
9.9
To spend time on small, unimportant tasks instead of getting things done
1
6.5
To spend time or money in a wasteful way
To waste time, money, or chances on things that do not matter
To waste time, money, or chances by being careless
To waste time doing small, unimportant things
Spend time or money on unimportant things
To spend time on things that are not useful
To waste time by doing silly, unimportant things
To waste time instead of doing something useful
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- US
1
2.5
A small fried cake of batter and bits of corn served hot as a snack or side dish
A deep-fried pastry made with yeast like a doughnut often dusted with powdered sugar
A thick mix of flour, water, and egg for coating foods like fish or vegetables before frying
How Wasteful
Surface Forms
Etymology
Fritter used as a verb comes from the idea of breaking something into small bits, like pieces of a fried fritter, and slowly losing them. So to fritter away time or money is to waste it 'bit by bit' until it is gone.