zone out

Idioms  

1. Stop paying attention, dissociate oneself from a situation. Also, engage in a mindless activity. For example, When Felicia starts talking about her ailments and her friends' ailments, I totally zone out. This idiom also occurs in the passive, be zoned out. It originally alluded to narcotic intoxication and then was broadened to other kinds of dissociation. For a near synonym, see tune out, def. 2. [Slang; second half of 1900s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zone out

After a few minutes, she would zone out, and he would lose patience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025

“I just found it very enjoyable to zone out and have the right kind of music on and just sort of keep going,” Mark said.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2025

"I just try and lock in and zone out the crowd", says Joe.

From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2025

He beat them in the strike zone, out of the strike zone and lived on the edges of the strike zone where productive approaches and quality at-bats go to die.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 27, 2024

While Mama tells the class the correct and incorrect ways of cooking vegetables—the microwave makes them soft but also wrinkles their skin—I zone out.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Related Words

• lose consciousness
• pass out