Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
footle was our Word of the Day on 08/02/2013. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of footle in a Sentence
spent the morning footling about while others were working
Did You Know?
Footle may be an alteration of "footer," which an 1847 dictionary of archaic and provincial words says is a verb meaning "to idle." That word is connected with "fouter" (also spelled "foutra"), a word describing something of little value or someone worthless or bungling. But the link between "footle" and "footer" is speculative. What we can say with confidence is that "footle" is a verb of 19th century origin that-along with the adjective "footling" (as in "a footling amateur")-is still apt when discussing foolish or trifling people or things.
Origin and Etymology of footle
probably alteration of footer to waste time
First Known Use: 1891
Learn More about footle
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