at loose ends

Idioms  

1. In an unsettled or uncertain situation. For example, This whole visit has left me feeling restless, constantly at loose ends, or Jane couldn't find a job this year and so is at loose ends for the summer. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

And Mr. Neville gives us a sense—not only through the audio but also in the fragmented imagery and abbreviated sequencing—of a superstar at loose ends.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

Affleck also seems completely at loose ends here.

From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2023

Feeling at loose ends emotionally, I threw myself into preparing her food.

From Salon • Oct. 10, 2022

Pandemic sentencings end abruptly, and she felt at loose ends, without the normal sense of release that comes at the end of a long effort.

From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2021

Once she tried to interest me in it, when I was thirteen and miserable and at loose ends.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood