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

See Examples For:

at loose ends

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

One blazing afternoon in the summer of 1973, Rudy Calvo found himself at loose ends.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2023

She soon finds a friend and travel companion in Gill, a British college student of about the same age and similarly at loose ends.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 3, 2022

When he wound up at loose ends once the pandemic closed down restaurants, Rahul Saito, an affluent local resident with a taste for fine food, tapped him for this new enterprise.

From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2022

Trip seemed grumpy and at loose ends, and Moody suspected—correctly—that he’d planned to meet Pearl and something had gone amiss.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng