waste of time
126
2.7
- noun
- /weɪst əv taɪm/
:
pérdida de tiempo
- Trying to convince him to change his mind was just a waste of time.
- a waste of time and money
- consider it a waste of time
- a waste of time and effort
Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money.
- Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money.
- And it might be a waste of time because they won't understand, right?
- I find them a waste of time and you know, time is limited.
- So then I realized that it was a waste of time to do that.
- The competition for cities is a waste of time.
- It's a compromise answer, an enormous waste of time.
- It's not, it's not a waste of time.
- So in theory, was it a waste of time?
- So it's a just a colossal waste of time.
- Making your bed every day is a waste of time.
- That was quite the waste of time.
- What a boring, uninspiring, interminable waste of time.
Examples
-
This is a waste of time, isn't it?
-
So then I realized that it was a waste of time to do that.
-
I find them a waste of time and you know, time is limited.
-
And I think it's a waste of time to give it more air.
-
This is a waste of time.
-
That was a complete waste of time.
-
Regret is usually a waste of time.
-
The conversation was a tedious waste of time anyway; we both knew that.
Fiction book (1994) -
"Our association has been a complete waste of time." Harry watched her, fascinated.
Fiction book (1997) -
A problem-solving approach may prevent unnecessary waste of time in the search for solutions.
Academic text (1998)
Synonyms
55
4.3
A continuous loss of energy, money, or skilled workers
14
9.9
Work that looks useful but wastes time or money
12
7.2
A task that has no chance of success
4
3.9
An activity that uses your time but does not help you
3
6.3
Tasks that keep you busy but have little real value
1
8.4
Tasks given mainly to keep someone busy instead of producing useful results
1
3.8
An action that uses time and energy but gives no useful result
1
4.3
A thing like time or money that is completely useless and gives no benefit
A rude phrase for something completely pointless and not worth your time
Something that wastes a lot of your time
Antonyms
How Worthwhile
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning "an activity not worthwhile" is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents 'waste' (using things inefficiently) + 'time' (a span available for tasks) linked by the possessive/partitive 'of'. This noun + of + noun pattern is common cross-linguistically (e.g., Spanish 'pérdida de tiempo') and follows ordinary semantic composition, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Waste of time comes from a simple image: think of time as something useful and waste as throwing things away like trash. So, if you 'throw away' time it is lost, and the phrase means an activity that is 'not worthwhile'.