loitering
Americannoun
-
the act of lingering aimlessly or as if aimlessly in or about a place.
A cluster of teens gathered in front of the plaza were charged with violating a city bylaw against loitering.
-
the act of moving in a slow, idle manner, with purposeless stops.
His celebration of loitering as the best form of travel will resonate with anyone who has ever dared toss away a tourist map.
-
the act of wasting time or dawdling over work.
As film director Jean Renoir notes, “The foundation of all civilization is loitering” because it gives time for creative thinking.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- loiteringly adverb
Etymology
Origin of loitering
First recorded in 1350–1400; loiter ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses; loiter ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective sense
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.
AeroVironment’s Switchblade guidable, loitering munitions came to prominence in the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine.
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 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
About 75 tankers are loitering in Venezuelan waters, and half are on Treasury’s blacklist for sanctions violators, according to TankerTrackers.com.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
After the result, us reporters were still loitering in the street and we were kept waiting ages for the winner, the loser and the prime minister to leave.
From BBC • Oct. 25, 2025
The streets were mostly silent and deserted that morning, but every now and then we’d pass a woman wearing curlers or a group of men in T-shirts with motor-oil decals, loitering in a doorway.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
