aimlessly
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of aimlessly
Explanation
When you do something aimlessly, you have no plan or purpose. You might wander aimlessly through the zoo on a summer afternoon, not sure which animal you feel like looking at. A road trip can be a long drive directly from one place to another, or it can look more like a couple of friends driving aimlessly along country highways, heading nowhere in particular. When someone is aimless, she has no real direction or specific plan — she's "without aim." The adverb aimlessly comes from this adjective, and it's equally random and unplanned.
Vocabulary lists containing aimlessly
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber
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David Crosby (1941–2023) Tribute List
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The Red Pony
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Are we wandering aimlessly or do we have a destination?”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
My fork hovered aimlessly over the plate while my eyes stayed fixed on the entrance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The 21-year-old tanker sailed aimlessly for more than a month, according to ship-tracking data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Esteemed horror veteran Mike Flanagan is an executive producer and you can sense Stuckmann grabbing aimlessly in the last third for the kind of sickly visual elegance that is Flanagan’s deliberative style.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2025
He asked about her job and they discussed fish aimlessly for a while.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
