putter
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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putters,
present (3rd person singular)
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puttered,
past participle, past
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puttering
present participle
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to busy or occupy oneself in a leisurely, casual, or ineffective manner.
to putter in the garden.
-
to move or go in a specified manner with ineffective action or little energy or purpose.
to putter about the house on a rainy day.
-
to move or go slowly or aimlessly; loiter.
noun
verb phrase
noun
-
a person who putts.
-
a club with a relatively short, stiff shaft and a wooden or iron head, used in putting.
verb
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(intr;often foll by about or around) to busy oneself in a desultory though agreeable manner
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(intr;often foll by along or about) to move with little energy or direction
to putter about town
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to waste (time)
noun
noun
-
a club for putting, usually having a solid metal head
-
a golfer who putts
noun
-
a person who puts
the putter of a question
-
a person who puts the shot
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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puttersimple
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putterssimple
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have putteredperfect
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has putteredperfect
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am putteringprogressive
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are putteringprogressive
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is putteringprogressive
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have been putteringperfect progressive
-
has been putteringperfect progressive
Past
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putteredsimple
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had putteredperfect
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was putteringprogressive
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were putteringprogressive
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had been putteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of putter1
First recorded in 1825–30; variant of potter 2
Origin of putter2
First recorded in 1740–50; putt + -er 1
Origin of putter3
Explanation
A golfer who hits the ball very gently close to the hole is a putter. The club used to do this is also a putter. But to putter is to poke around aimlessly, maybe watch a little golf on TV. In golf, the putter is the club with the flat face, and sometimes with a slightly bent shaft. When you hit the ball with a putter, you putt. If you putter, it's something completely different — it means you make yourself busy without accomplishing anything huge. You might putter around the house on Saturday afternoon, filling the dishwasher and flipping through a magazine, for example. The golfing meaning comes from a Scottish word for "push or shove."
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:
When the company released a putter in 2022, people camped out overnight to get their hands on it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
Harrington, the 2026 US Senior Open champion, drove the ball well but was let down by indifferent iron play and a cool putter.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
“When I’m working, I just don’t cook at all basically, and then when I get time off I like to putter around in the kitchen. I’m not very good, but I like to do it.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
He said the past two weeks had boosted his confidence in his putter, and it certainly showed as he needed just 22 putts, gaining more than five strokes on the field on the greens.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Louie made a habit of sitting next to the mountainous shot putter Jack Torrance, who had an inexplicably tiny appetite.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
The occasion often feels tacked-on amid the barbecues and the shiny putters trotted out like obligations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Within 12 months, Scheffler had risen into the top 15 putters and completed a remarkable season, winning seven PGA Tour events, including a second Masters, and an Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025
He focused on altering the conventional starting point, which has shot putters standing at the back of the ring, facing away from the field.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2024
Crouser could be paving the road for the next generation of shot putters, which Dick Fosbury did for the high jump.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
A post-balloon putters back up to her with tea.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
After grabbing items for dinner at a Trader Joe’s, I puttered home along a main drag with a 35 mph limit, fully pressing the pedal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Simson's moped division puttered on after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall but eventually went bust in 2002.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
In fact, I was gulping some of the Sailing Goat’s excellent clam chowder when my innkeepers’ 22-foot boat puttered up to the dock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
But that was the scene I happened upon at 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday in mid-April when I puttered into my driveway in Eugene, Oregon, my 7-year-old ensconced in the back seat.
From Slate ● Jun. 21, 2022
On Sunday, November 12, Dalgard puttered around the house in the morning, fixing things, doing little errands.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
During communist days, chronic shortages and years-long waiting lists for cars like the puttering Trabant meant that mopeds and motorcycles became an indispensable way to get around.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Shahed drones have been dubbed "flying mopeds" by Ukrainians because of their puttering engines.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
I would sometimes see him puttering around the library in our part of Arlington, Virginia.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2025
Cortes would often walk from the homestead to Arvia to find his abuelito in the shed out back doing maintenance or puttering at his TV and radio repair business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
The engine was out on the ground; he had been puttering with it for two days.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
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