fiddled while Rome burnt
fiddled while Rome burnt is the simple past and past participle of fiddle while Rome burns.
Meaning of fiddle while Rome burns
Verb
fiddle while Rome burns (third-person singular simple present fiddles while Rome burns, present participle fiddling while Rome burns, simple past and past participle fiddled while Rome burned or fiddled while Rome burnt)
- To neglect helping when one’s time is needed most; to ignore the major problem at hand (whilst doing something less important); to be idle, inactive, or uninterested in a time of great need.
- Synonyms:
- sit on one's hands, sit on one's thumbs
Questions about fiddled while Rome burnt
- What is fiddled while Rome burnt the simple past and past participle of?
- Fiddled while Rome burnt is the simple past and past participle of fiddle while Rome burns.
Words near fiddled while Rome burnt in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fiddled while Rome burnt (page history and authors); fiddle while Rome burns (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “fiddled while Rome burnt.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fiddled_while_rome_burnt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.