pottering (around)

verb

present participle of potter (around)
as in fiddling (around)
to spend time in aimless activity pottering around indoors on a rainy day

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pottering (around)
  1. playing
  2. fooling around
  3. messing around
  4. hanging about
Verb
  • Only the two teams that make the championship game playing a sixth game, but the Heat is likely out of the mix for the championship game with two losses in Las Vegas.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026
  • The excitement surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup has inspired many fans, from former players to beginners, to slide into a pair of shin guards and start playing the beautiful game.
    — Nicole Williams, AJC.com, 14 July 2026
Definition of playing
Verb
  • Zeus did not approve of his daughter fooling around with this mortal roughneck hunter and put out a hit on Orion.
    — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 8 Mar. 2026
  • The transition was rough for Ansari, who wasn’t fluent in English and often got in trouble for fooling around in school.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2026
Definition of fooling around
Verb
  • That sounds way better than messing around with a complex spider web of pole segments, elastic cords, sleeves and clips.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 9 July 2026
  • Kylian liked messing around, having a laugh and telling jokes — just like the rest of us.
    — Tom Williams, New York Times, 16 June 2026
Definition of messing around
Verb
  • President James Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau, died by hanging about five months after he was convicted of murder.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 17 June 2026
  • In 2019, city employees began hanging about 500 trick-or-treat pumpkin buckets in the trees on Main Street every October.
    — Elliott Harrell, Travel + Leisure, 18 Oct. 2025
Definition of hanging about
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

potteries
pottering (around)
potters (around)
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Cite this Entry

“Pottering (around).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pottering%20%28around%29. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

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