Synonyms of droning

droning

verb

present participle of drone

1

as in humming

to fly, turn, or move rapidly with a fluttering or vibratory sound

the sound of droning bees all around us

Synonyms & Similar Words

• humming
• buzzing
• zipping
• whirring
• whispering
• hissing
• whizzing
• burring
• sighing
• whistling
• murmuring
• zooming
• bumbling
• thrumming
• whishing
• purring
• chirring
• cooing
• churring
• wheezing
• rustling
• swishing
• fizzing
• curring
• whooshing
• sizzling

2

as in idling

to spend time doing nothing

instead of getting a job, he preferred to drone and live off his parents

Synonyms & Similar Words

• idling
• chilling
• lounging
• playing
• dawdling
• loafing
• resting
• lolling
• poking
• bumming
• relaxing
• lazing
• strolling
• dillydallying
• footling
• lingering
• mucking
• lazying
• hanging (around or out)
• messing
• hacking (around)
• vegging out
• goofing (off)
• dallying
• killing time
• kicking back
• hanging about
• dozing
• monkeying
• piddling
• twiddling one's thumbs
• fooling
• kicking around
• ambling
• sauntering
• trifling
• hibernating
• loitering
• estivating
• fiddling (around)
• lagging
• puttering (around)
• pottering (around)
• swanning
• moseying
• tarrying
• malingering
• goldbricking
• truanting
• furloughing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• grinding
• plodding
• laboring
• working
• plowing
• toiling
• sweating
• plugging
• hustling
• slaving
• grubbing
• humping
• pegging
• drudging
• applying
• buckling (down)
• moiling
• travailing
• exerting
• putting out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of droning

Usually, the town’s namesake island, far down in downstate Illinois, is quiet enough to hear the hum of the barges droning along the Mississippi River. — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

The Liberty buds cut both the droning noise from the bus's engine and random sounds, such as the doors opening and closing. — Christian De Looper, PC Magazine, 30 June 2026

The sound of tattoo machines droning at different pitches filled the air at the fifth annual Capitol City Classic tattoo convention, on Saturday afternoon, the second day of its three-day run. — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 14 June 2026

Instead, there’s a surplus of annoying, droning noise. — Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 11 June 2026

There’s no sound more evocative of summer than that of an old-school ice cream maker’s motor droning its monotonous naaaaaaaa with the backbeat of gas station ice and rock salt grinding and shifting against the spinning ice cream cannister. — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 31 May 2026

Here, a morning coffee on the sea-view private sun terrace comes complete with diving swifts and droning dragonflies, not to mention the sound of pulling tides. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 May 2026

The constant, incessant, droning sounds in between each pitch that blare from the sound system are manufactured slop, screeching ‘NEW YORKKKKKKKK! — Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2026

Teak Didgeridoo Didgeridoos are wind instruments originating from Indigenous Australian culture and are typically used for rhythmic, droning sound production. — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 9 Apr. 2026