wait around

Verb

Meaning

wait around (third-person singular simple present waits around, present participle waiting around, simple past and past participle waited around)

(intransitive, idiomatic) To spend an especially lengthy period of time inactively, while expecting the arrival of someone or while anticipating some other event, often impatiently and often without a satisfactory outcome.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Examples

Don't wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you've got to make yourself. Alice Walker

What is it like when you lose someone you love?" Jane asked. "You die, too. And you wait around for your body to catch up. John Scalzi

Sometimes the messaging is a little bit hyperbolic. But if you're going to wait around for a march or a protest in which you're going to agree with every single message that's on display, you're never going to participate. You just never will. Evan McMullin

What to do when inspiration doesn't come; be careful not to spook, get the wind up, force things into position. You must wait around until the idea comes. John Huston

If a man wants to be romantically involved with you, he tries to kiss you. That's the entire story, and if he doesn't kiss you, there is never a reason to wait around for him. Curtis Sittenfeld

With the movies, people are not going to wait around. The deadline is a deadline. In publishing it's more a polite suggestion. David Benioff

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