loiter
Americanverb (used without object)
-
loiters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
loitered,
past participle, past
-
loitering
present participle
-
to linger aimlessly or as if aimless in or about a place.
to loiter around the bus terminal.
- Synonyms:
- loaf
-
to move in a slow, idle manner, making purposeless stops in the course of a trip, journey, errand, etc..
to loiter on the way to work.
-
to waste time or dawdle over work.
He loiters over his homework until one in the morning.
verb (used with object)
-
loiters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
loitered,
past participle, past
-
loitering
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
Loiter, dally, dawdle, idle imply moving or acting slowly, stopping for unimportant reasons, and in general wasting time. To loiter is to linger aimlessly: to loiter outside a building. To dally is to loiter indecisively or to delay as if free from care or responsibility: to dally on the way home. To dawdle is to saunter, stopping often, and taking a great deal of time, or to fritter away time working in a halfhearted way: to dawdle over a task. To idle is to move slowly and aimlessly, or to spend a great deal of time doing nothing: to idle away the hours.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
loitersimple
-
loiterssimple
-
have loiteredperfect
-
has loiteredperfect
-
am loiteringprogressive
-
are loiteringprogressive
-
is loiteringprogressive
-
have been loiteringperfect progressive
-
has been loiteringperfect progressive
Past
-
loiteredsimple
-
had loiteredperfect
-
was loiteringprogressive
-
were loiteringprogressive
-
had been loiteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of loiter
First recorded before 1300–50; Middle English loteren, loytren, perhaps from Middle Dutch loteren “to stagger, totter”; compare Dutch leuteren “to dawdle”
Explanation
To loiter is to hang around a place with no real purpose, usually somewhere where you are not welcome — like under the “No Loitering” sign at a convenience store. If you’re a dawdler, or a loafer, then you are probably inclined to loiter from time to time. The verb loiter is similar to “hang out,” but it has a more negative connotation and is sometimes associated with acting illegally. You might hang out at your friend’s house watching movies, but you would loiter by the vending machine at school when you are supposed be in class.
Vocabulary lists containing loiter
Fever 1793
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Ghost
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 19–24
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
By contrast, a blockade allows US warships to loiter safely, far offshore in the waters of the Gulf of Oman, track vessels emerging from Iranian ports and interdict them at will.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
They can loiter over the battlefield as long as 20 hours on a single tank of fuel, allowing them to wait for mobile missile launchers to emerge from hiding and then strike them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
During this phase, the spacecraft will follow a large "loiter" orbit that stretches roughly 2 million miles from Earth.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2026
In the Plus bonus mini-episode: Starbucks wanted to be a classy Italian espresso house, but it became a modern milkshake shop for teens to loiter and flirt.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2024
The engines crooned mellifluously as McWatt throttled back to loiter and allow the rest of the planes in his flight to catch up.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Alexis Perez, 52, loiters beside the settlement where he typically spends two weeks straight, working 12-hour days before returning to his family.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Seemingly intent on not losing her, McSweeney follows the woman into a shop, then loiters outside until she emerges.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022
Saturn — our solar system’s other large gaseous planet — now rises in the late afternoon, ahead of Jupiter, and loiters near the goat shape of Capricornus.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2022
Besides being a novelty that loiters around your home, Amazon expects us to burden the Astro with tasks like elder care and home security.
From The Verge ● Oct. 2, 2021
And it doesn't travel straight away in a line like that of the roving moose; for she loiters to feed and dawdle out of pure indolence.
From The Story of the Trapper by A. C. Laut
In the days, weeks and months leading up to the release of “Michael,” the one question that loitered at the top of my mind was why Jackson’s estate wasn’t content to leave well enough alone.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026
He loitered in the streets with his friends and called them “my pippin.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026
Border Patrol cops loitered on the sidewalks of a popular nightlife strip, where they got an earful from a passerby in a pink pointelle shirt.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2025
They loitered around in the dirt driveway, evidently hoping she’d change her mind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
In the transitional space of the bus, she turned over the questions that had loitered in her mind since sending off her application six months prior.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
“For privacy purposes, they’re not flying just in the sky and loitering, they’re responding at the onset of a call, usually through 9-1-1,” Warner said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
The farmer has attempted to deter people from loitering by spreading cattle slurry near the worst affected spots.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
The Defense Department last week paid AeroVironment $186 million for the first procurement in a five-year, $990 million contract for its Switchblade loitering missile systems.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
Some were held on loitering charges, while others were detained over their perceived "incorrigibility."
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
She says, ‘We don’t allow loitering in our store.”
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
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.
