twiddling one's thumbs Antonyms
Strongest:
- hanging-around-or-out-
- hanging-about
- vegging-out
- resting
- kicking-around
- idling
- killing-time
- relaxing
- kicking-back
- hacking-around-
- chilling
- loafing
- lounging
- goofing-off-
Strong:
- pottering-around-
- strolling
- lolling
- mucking
- playing
- lingering
- poking
- messing
- puttering-around-
- dallying
- dillydallying
- droning
- lazying
- dawdling
- fiddling-around-
- bumming
- lazing
- footling
Weak:
Meaning of twiddling one's thumbs
twiddling one's thumbs
to play negligently with something, turn, twist, to spend time idly, to rotate lightly or idly, to turn or jounce lightly
twiddling one's thumbs Sentence Examples
- She sat idly by, twiddling her thumbs while waiting for the paperwork to be processed.
- The bored student spent the entire lecture twiddling his thumbs, unable to focus on the material.
- The receptionist answered the phone promptly, but then spent the next few minutes twiddling her thumbs, waiting for a customer to arrive.
- The athlete sat on the sidelines, twiddling his thumbs and watching the game unfold without him.
- The unemployed man spent hours at home, twiddling his thumbs and browsing the internet.
- The nervous interviewee sat in the waiting room, twiddling her thumbs and trying to calm her racing thoughts.
- The prisoner paced around his cell, twiddling his thumbs in frustration at being confined.
- The elderly woman sat in the rocking chair, twiddling her thumbs and reminiscing about her past.
- The teacher punished the misbehaving student by having him stand in the corner, twiddling his thumbs and reflecting on his actions.
- The babysitter sat on the couch, twiddling her thumbs and waiting for the children to wake up from their naps.
FAQs About the word twiddling one's thumbs
to play negligently with something, turn, twist, to spend time idly, to rotate lightly or idly, to turn or jounce lightly
hanging (around or out), hanging about, vegging out, resting, kicking around, idling, killing time, relaxing, kicking back, hacking (around)
applying,working, pegging, plugging, buckling (down), sweating, plodding, grinding, laboring, grubbing
She sat idly by, twiddling her thumbs while waiting for the paperwork to be processed.
The bored student spent the entire lecture twiddling his thumbs, unable to focus on the material.
The receptionist answered the phone promptly, but then spent the next few minutes twiddling her thumbs, waiting for a customer to arrive.
The athlete sat on the sidelines, twiddling his thumbs and watching the game unfold without him.
