sit back

British  

verb

1. (intr, adverb) to relax, as when action should be taken

   many people just sit back and ignore the problems of today

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sit back Idioms  

1. Relax, as in Now that the work's finished, we can just sit back .

2. Refrain from interfering or taking part, as in Mom and Dad just sat back and watched Meg try to decide whether or not she should tell on her friends . [Mid-1900s] Also see sit by .

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Example Sentences

The author is remarkably good at finding an obscure statistic or fact that causes the reader to sit back and ponder.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I feel like we’ve always been so in the moment of creating and evolving and doing our work, it seems strange to sit back and do a sort of retrospective.”

From Los Angeles Times

The following “Etyd” is named for the Swedish word for “study,” and the song is a call for individual engagement rather than sitting back and hoping for the best.

From The Wall Street Journal

Searching for a way to distract me, Theo sits back down and points to the stack of files on the floor.

From Literature

Agentic commerce is in its early days, but Vemana said he would rather be early and learn than sit back and wait for it to become more mainstream.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• calm
• lie down
• loosen up
• recline
• soften
• unwind