to piss around
1
9.9
- phrasal verb
- /pɪs əˈraʊnd/
- Offensive
:
perder el tiempo
- If you keep pissing around during meetings, we won't make any progress on this important issue.
Examples
-
Quit pissing around!
-
When I was two years younger than you are now, I was pioneering digital cellular technology while my colleagues were still pissing around with electronic pulses.
-
We piss around here all day and none of us are ever gonna win anything.
-
- Hey, all right, don't piss around on me, I'm serious.
-
It may be boring, but you sit it out unless you want to piss around all your life.
Fiction book (1996) -
You're just pissing around out there.
-
We need to stop pissing around and start working on our project if we want to meet the deadline.
-
He always pisses around instead of focusing on his studies, which frustrates his teachers.
Synonyms
728
1.6
To spend time doing things that are not useful instead of doing something more useful
350
1.1
To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose
111
4.1
To spend time doing playful or unplanned activities
75
9.9
To waste time or act carelessly
46
3.6
Act in a silly, playful way instead of working
43
3.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
8
9.5
To waste time or money by being careless
6
7.2
To waste time by doing small unimportant things
5
7.9
To waste time by delaying when you should act
5
6.5
To spend time doing small, not important tasks slowly without a clear plan
4
7.3
Waste time by acting silly instead of working
3
5.9
To spend time somewhere doing nothing special
3
7.9
Spend time doing very little or nothing
3
8.4
To spend time doing not important things in a relaxed way
3
3.5
To act in a careless, playful way instead of doing something important
2
9.9
To sit and do nothing instead of working
2
7.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
2
8.6
To spend time doing very little and moving around without plans
2
7.9
To waste time and effort without making progress
1
8.7
To waste time doing small unimportant things
1
8.7
To spend time doing things that are not important
1
9.2
To spend time doing small unimportant things instead of working
1
7.7
To spend time doing nothing and not working
1
9.9
To waste time by behaving in a silly or unproductive way instead of working
1
9.9
To spend time on small, unimportant tasks instead of getting things done
1
9.9
To waste time doing silly or lazy things instead of useful work
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
1
9.9
To waste time instead of doing something useful
1
6.5
To spend time doing nothing in a lazy way
To spend time on things that are not useful
Spend time or money on unimportant things
To spend time doing small unimportant things with no real plan
To waste time instead of doing something useful
To waste time instead of working
To waste time doing small, unimportant things
Act in a silly, aimless way and waste time
To behave foolishly and not take responsibility
To spend time doing very little and not do the work you should
To waste time instead of working
How Productive
Surface Forms
Morphology
piss + around
Although 'around' clearly contributes the sense of aimless movement, 'piss' is normally literal ('to urinate') and here undergoes a colloquial, metaphorical shift to mean 'waste time'; a B1 learner who knows both words might infer something about idle or unserious behaviour but not reliably or politely. The expression is also slang/taboo and its non-literal meaning depends on usage and register, so the relation is partially clear but not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The verb piss around comes from a clear, literal picture: someone pissing around — standing or moving about and doing nothing important. One popular story says the phrase described people hanging about to pee or doing small, pointless tasks, so today it means 'to waste time'.