footling

[ foo t-ling ]

/ ˈfʊt lɪŋ /

adjective Informal.

foolish; silly: ridiculous, footling remarks.

trifling or useless.

Nearby words

footle, footless, footlet, footlight, footlights, footling, footling presentation, footlocker, footlong, footloose, footloose and fancy-free

Origin of footling

First recorded in 1895–1900; footle + -ing²

Definition for footling (2 of 2)

footle

[ foo t-l ]

/ ˈfʊt l /

Informal.

verb (used without object), foot·led, foot·ling.

to act or talk in a foolish or silly way.

noun

nonsense; foolishness; silliness.

Origin of footle

1890–95; origin uncertain; cf. footy

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for footling

"I s'pose we'll just keep on footling about here till the blooming war's over," he growled.
Commander Lawless V.C.|Rolf Bennett
For the life of me, I can't see why we should carry these footling little nations on our shoulders.
War Letters of a Public-School Boy|Paul Jones.
But he must do this, his very first job, absolutely correctly, and without any bungling and footling.
Cupid in Africa|P. C. Wren
I wouldn't lose this day at Pompeii for a shipload of footling schoolmasters.
Captivity|M. Leonora Eyles

Seems as if everything were too small and footling to matter.
Notwithstanding|Mary Cholmondeley

British Dictionary definitions for footling (1 of 2)

footling

/ (ˈfuːtlɪŋ) /

adjective

informal silly, trivial, or petty

British Dictionary definitions for footling (2 of 2)

footle

/ (ˈfuːtəl) informal /

verb (intr)

(often foll by around or about) to loiter aimlessly; potter

to talk nonsense

noun

rare foolishness

Word Origin for footle

C19: probably from French foutre to copulate with, from Latin futuere

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for footling

footle

"to trifle," 1892, from dialectal footer "to trifle," footy "mean, paltry" (1752), perhaps from French se foutre "to care nothing," from Old French foutre "to copulate with," from Latin futuere, originally "to strike, thrust" (cf. confute). But OED derives the English dialect words from foughty (c.1600), from Dutch vochtig or Danish fugtig "damp, musty;" related to fog (n.).