footle
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
verb
-
to loiter aimlessly; potter
-
to talk nonsense
noun
Etymology
Origin of footle
First recorded in 1890–95; origin uncertain; cf. footy
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.
See Examples For:
I think it's the most footle business I ever heard of!
From In the Onyx Lobby by Wells, Carolyn
Of course, he would just footle; he always had.
From The Lee Shore by Macaulay, Rose, Dame
Think of the people to whom your bottles of footle go!
From Tono Bungay by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Now, really, Settee, do try not to footle like this!
From Voces Populi by Anstey, F.
"I suppose you'll just footle, then," his friend had summed it up, and left him, because it was half-past six, and they had dinner at that strange hour.
From The Lee Shore by Macaulay, Rose, Dame
About two hours later, it was recognised Arthur was "an unanticipated footling breech", the Record of Inquest states.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2023
That left Jonathan with lifelong feelings of guilt, which led him on several occasions to announce that he was abandoning what he once called “this footling flibbertigibbet world of theater.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2019
Race and gender are weighty issues, but there is another, more footling, prejudice that Strong Island will have to overcome if it is to take the Oscar on Sunday.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 2, 2018
A play which attacks footling excess has by then capsized under the weight of its own adornments.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 10, 2010
It would hurt horribly to do so, but would a man sacrifice everything on account of some footling argument about a street?
From The Best British Short Stories of 1922 by Cournos, John
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.
