futz around

Idioms  

1. Also, futz with. Waste time or effort on frivolities, play around. For example, He spent all morning futzing around with the report, or No more futzing with the car—we have to go now. This term may be a shortening and corruption of the Yiddish arumfartzen, for “fart around.” [Slang; 1920s]

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Example Sentences

Yes, we hate it, yes we love it, and yes, as is our habit, we let time mosey on by as we futz around over what to do.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2024

It was incredibly hot to wear silicone, so there wasn’t as much time to futz around.

From New York Times • Feb. 22, 2023

There’s not much to do on it aside from futz around with watch faces, read tutorials, tweak settings, and that’s… about it.

From The Verge • Aug. 26, 2022

Here every square inch of interior space is acclimatized to a refreshing and humidity-free 72 degrees Fahrenheit—so brisk that some of us futz around wearing sweaters and socks while the outside temperature climbs toward 100.

From Scientific American • Feb. 12, 2018

An ego depletion optimist might acknowledge that psychology studies tend to be too small to demonstrate a real effect, or that scientists like to futz around with their statistics until the answers come out right.

From Slate • Mar. 6, 2016

Related Words

• analyze
• examine
• explore