waste of time

noun

A pointless or unproductive task.

“Asking him for money is a waste of time: he won't give you any.”

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Meanings

nounwaste of time (plural wastes of time)

plural wastes of time

  1. A pointless or unproductive task.

    Asking him for money is a waste of time: he won't give you any.

    1 more example

    Sit and try for the big kill. A waste of time, sitting still.

    1983 April 12, R.E.M., “Sitting Still”, in Murmur

Translations

Catalan pèrdua de temps
  • pèrdua de tempspointless or unproductive activity
Chinese Mandarin 浪費時間 /浪费时间
  • 浪費時間 /浪费时间 (làngfèi shíjiān)pointless or unproductive activity
Danish spild af tid
  • spild af tidpointless or unproductive activity
Dutch tijdverspilling
  • tijdverspillingpointless or unproductive activity
Finnish ajanhukka
  • ajanhukkapointless or unproductive activity
French perte de temps
  • perte de tempspointless or unproductive activity
German Zeitverschwendung
  • Zeitverschwendungpointless or unproductive activity
Hebrew בזבוז זמן
  • בזבוז זמן (bizbúz zman)pointless or unproductive activity
Hungarian időpocsékolás, időpazarlás
  • időpocsékoláspointless or unproductive activity
  • időpazarláspointless or unproductive activity
Irish cailleadh aimsire
  • cailleadh aimsirepointless or unproductive activity
Italian perdita di tempo, spreco di tempo
  • perdita di tempopointless or unproductive activity
  • spreco di tempopointless or unproductive activity
Japanese 時間の無駄, 時間の浪費
  • 時間の無駄 (jikan no muda)pointless or unproductive activity
  • 時間の浪費 (jikan no rōhi)pointless or unproductive activity
Korean 시간의 낭비
  • 시간의 낭비 (sigan-ui nangbi)pointless or unproductive activity
Polish strata czasu
  • strata czasupointless or unproductive activity
Portuguese perda de tempo
  • perda de tempopointless or unproductive activity
Russian трата времени, пустая трата времени
  • трата времени (trata vremeni)pointless or unproductive activity
  • пустая трата времени (pustaja trata vremeni)pointless or unproductive activity
Spanish pérdida de tiempo
  • pérdida de tiempopointless or unproductive activity
Swedish slöseri med tid
  • slöseri med tidpointless or unproductive activity
Turkish zaman kaybı
  • zaman kaybıpointless or unproductive activity
Vietnamese thì giờ mất công, thời giờ mất công
  • thì giờ mất côngpointless or unproductive activity
  • thời giờ mất côngpointless or unproductive activity
Welsh gwastraff amser
  • gwastraff amserpointless or unproductive activity
Cite this entry
APA

waste of time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waste%20of%20time

MLA

“waste of time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waste%20of%20time. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waste of time,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waste%20of%20time.

Source: waste of time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.