faff around
Meaning(s)
1. spend time on unimportant tasks
Popularity
Medium
Professional
Medium
Social
How to Memorize
stop faffing around
Analysis
The phrasal verb 'faff around' or 'faffing about' means that someone is doing things in a disorganised way, wasting time doing unimportant things and failing to get very much done. This is an informal colloquial expression however it can be used in both social and professional contacts. Similar in meaning to 'messing around' or 'wasting time'.
Social Examples (Advance)
- "Stop faffing around," said the teacher to the students who were chatting instead of doing their school work.
- Slow play in golf is often caused by players who like to faff around between shots.
Professional Examples (Advance)
- Stop faffing around with the small details and focus on the bigger picture.
- There has been a lot of toing and froing with this potential client and faffing around. They still haven't made a commitment to us so I think we should cut our losses at this point