puttering (around)

verb

present participle of putter (around)
as in fiddling (around)
to spend time in aimless activity I spent all weekend at home just puttering around

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for puttering (around)
  1. playing
  2. fooling around
  3. messing around
  4. hanging about
Verb
  • Janssens would be one of those defenders playing in front of Suzuki in a new environment.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Manchester City’s defence was wide open in Sunday’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and that could be a sign of things to come now that Rodri is playing for Barcelona in La Liga.
    — Graham Ruthven, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 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
  • The buckle on the Jordan clogs is a great touch, and the arch support isn’t messing around.
    — Annie Blackman, InStyle, 9 Aug. 2026
  • The Chicago Cubs weren’t messing around at the trade deadline.
    — Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 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

putterers
puttering (around)
putters (around)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Puttering (around).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puttering%20%28around%29. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of divulge

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All