fiddling away

verb

present participle of fiddle away
as in spending
to use up carelessly fiddled away the entire evening surfing the Internet

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fiddling away
  1. spending
  2. running through
  3. losing
  4. throwing away
Verb
  • He was allowed to leave the country, spending weeks at a rehab facility in Switzerland.
    — Bob Harkins, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
  • In the sweet snaps, the mother-son duo could be seen spending time together on the beach, posing after a tennis lesson and hanging out on vacation.
    — Georgia Slater, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of spending
Verb
  • But there’s a question running through the film that’s a lot thornier than unlikely friendships and learning to look at the world through another’s eyes.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The common thread running through the entire complex is warm hospitality — and conviviality.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of running through
Verb
  • A week after losing 49-35 to Batavia, Maine South came out strong in all three phases of the game.
    — Bobby Narang, Chicago Tribune, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The Chiefs continue their preseason losing streak, but as The Star’s Sam McDowell writes, the next one counts.
    — Dominick Williams, Kansas City Star, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of losing
Verb
  • The New York Sanitation Department is telling New Yorkers to stop throwing away their needles the wrong way.
    — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Residents described throwing away food, shelling out for generators and sending their children away to family.
    — Jen Guadarrama, IndyStar, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of throwing away
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

fiddling (around)
fiddling away
fiddlings
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fiddling away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fiddling%20away. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All