Synonyms of sit on one's hands
59 similar words
Another word for sit on one's hands is while. Other synonyms of sit on one's hands are dilly-dally.
Synonyms and similar words for sit on one's hands
verbTo remain idle when action is needed, perhaps because of fear, ignorance, complacency...
- arse aboutTo turn round.
- arse aroundTo behave in a clownish, irresponsible or inefficient manner.
- bludge Australia, slang
- bum aroundTo wander around idly to no purpose; to loaf or loiter.
- cabbage slang
- clown aroundTo have fun in an irresponsible manner.
- dally
- dawdle
- dick aboutSynonym of dick around.
- dick around
- diddle
- dilly-dallyTo dawdle; to waste time; to procrastinate.
- dretch Scotland
- faff
- faff aboutTo waste time; to spend time idly.
- faff aroundSynonym of faff about.
- fanny about
- fanny around
- fart aboutTo waste time, or to fool about.
- fart aroundTo waste time, or to fool about.
- fiddle aboutSynonym of fiddle around.
- fiddle around
- fool aboutTo fool around.
- fool around
- footle
- forslow
- goof aroundTo fool around.
- goof off
- hang about
- hang around
- hang out
- horse aroundTo engage in horseplay.
- idle
- jerk off vulgar
- lallygag
- lamp slang
- laze
- laze aboutTo do nothing in particular; to be idle.
- laze aroundTo do nothing in particular; to be idle.
- linger
- loaf
- loaf aboutTo do nothing in particular; to be idle.
- loaf aroundTo do nothing in particular, be idle.
- loiter
- lollop
- lollygag
- mess around
- mill aboutTo move or circulate in a confused or disorderly manner within a limited area.
- mill aroundTo move or circulate in a confused or disorderly manner within a limited area.
- muck about
- muck aroundTo muck about.
- piddle
- pingle dialectal
- stand by
- tarry
- tool around
- waste timeTo allow time to elapse in an unproductive manner.
- while
- drumble obsolete
Meaning of sit on one's hands
- verb To remain idle when action is needed, perhaps because of fear, ignorance, complacency, indecisiveness, or dislike of the person(s) or situation.
- verb To fail to applaud when expected to.
Questions about synonyms of sit on one's hands
- What is another word for sit on one's hands?
- Sit on one's hands has 59 synonyms on Word.ws, such as while and dilly-dally.
- What does sit on one's hands mean?
- Sit on one's hands means to remain idle when action is needed, perhaps because of fear, ignorance, complacency, indecisiveness, or dislike of the person(s) or situation.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sit on one's hands (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Synonyms of sit on one's hands.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/sit_on_one%27s_hands. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.