Synonyms of kicking around

kicking around

verb

present participle of kick around

1

as in considering

to give serious and careful thought to

the board spent the afternoon kicking around the feasibility of opening an overseas office

Synonyms & Similar Words

• considering
• contemplating
• pondering
• debating
• entertaining
• studying
• looking at
• thinking (about or over)
• questioning
• chewing on
• wrestling (with)
• mulling (over)
• weighing
• poring (over)
• eyeing
• exploring
• chewing over
• reviewing
• analyzing
• reflecting (on or upon)
• beating one's brains out (about)
• perpending
• deliberating
• cudgeling one's brains (about)
• ruminating
• meditating
• revolving
• cogitating
• musing (upon)
• turning
• dwelling (on or upon)
• fixating (on or upon)
• speculating (about)
• brooding (about or over)
• obsessing (about or over)
• fretting (about or over)
• drinking (in)
• reasoning
• digesting
• reminiscing
• believing
• concluding
• absorbing
• opining
• conceiving
• assimilating
• second-guessing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignoring
• overlooking
• disregarding
• rejecting
• dismissing
• slighting
• pooh-poohing

2

as in playing

to spend time in aimless activity

I really can't do much but kick around at work until I get the rest of the submissions

Synonyms & Similar Words

• playing
• fiddling (around)
• fooling around
• puttering (around)
• goofing (around)
• pottering (around)
• messing around
• hanging about
• monkeying (around)
• hanging (around or out)
• fribbling
• doodling
• trifling
• horsing around
• clowning (around)
• lounging
• idling
• loafing
• diddling (with)
• dawdling
• lolling
• tinkering
• dallying
• dillydallying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• setting (to)
• settling (down)
• buckling (down)
• knuckling down

3

as in hanging (around or out)

to spend time doing nothing

spent the afternoon kicking around, while his wife bought out the mall

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

4

as in wandering

to move about from place to place aimlessly

after spending a year in Europe kicking around, the backpacker was ready to return home

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wandering
• roaming
• knocking (about)
• strolling
• drifting
• cruising
• floating
• gadding (about)
• meandering
• ranging
• roving
• traipsing
• rambling
• batting
• gallivanting
• milling (about or around)
• sauntering
• ambling
• mooching
• maundering
• dawdling
• moping
• straggling
• straying
• tramping
• hoboing
• vagabonding

5

as in abusing

to inflict physical or emotional harm upon

children who were raised by an alcoholic father who regularly kicked them around

Synonyms & Similar Words

• abusing
• taking apart
• bullying
• messing over
• torturing
• mistreating
• working (over)
• ill-using
• injuring
• misusing
• manhandling
• violating
• brutalizing
• oppressing
• mishandling
• hurting
• maltreating
• ill-treating
• beating (up)
• persecuting
• harassing
• tormenting
• molesting
• roughing (up)
• harming
• outraging
• messing (up)
• victimizing
• wronging
• sandbagging
• burning

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• caring (for)
• fostering
• nurturing
• cherishing
• catering (to)
• gratifying
• favoring
• indulging
• spoiling
• pampering
• coddling
• humoring
• babying
• mollycoddling

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of kicking around

The fantasy of a cultural architecture that’s as flexible as culture itself has been kicking around for more than 100 years, and there’s something obscurely disappointing about seeing a technocratic version get put into practice. — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 29 July 2026

Within the venue gates but outside the stands, groups of friends were playing cornhole and having picnic dinners from food trucks parked onsite; older attendees were chatting and kids were kicking around mini soccer balls. — Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 7 July 2026

Some of the finer moments for Nemes in the studio were during rehearsals, when the band was just kicking around ideas and jamming. — Tina Eves, SPIN, 1 July 2026

All told, it’s been a pretty spectacular and drama-free rollout for an idea that had been kicking around Hollywood for over 15 years. — Josef Adalian, Vulture, 18 June 2026

Husband and wife duo Cristina Marzolf and Matthew Marzolf, both 25, had been kicking around the concept of Press’d Cafe and Lounge, a family-friendly tropical escape that sells smoothies, juices and food for years. — Kansas City Star, 12 June 2026

There are a few great Star Wars arcade games still kicking around, but this one is my personal favorite. — Alex James Kane, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026

Odenkirk and Kolstad have begun kicking around ideas for extending the character into an ongoing franchise. — Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026

Although the likes of the Go Go’s and the Cars are present at times, the soundtrack as a whole seems too staid to provide a backdrop for ’80s kids kicking around in the heyday of punk. — Gina Friedlande, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2026