Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of faff.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Lesson time that is wasted in faffing about with cables and recalcitrant software is lost learning time.

    T is for Time « An A-Z of ELT 2010

  • Lesson time that is wasted in faffing about with cables and recalcitrant software is lost learning time.

    May « 2010 « An A-Z of ELT 2010

  • I conclude that faffing is dangerously addictive - even for someone as intellectually, morally and spiritually advanced as me.

    Cheeseburger Gothic » Sweet jeebus, lookit this mess! 2009

  • Unfortunately, getting this to work in Word without considerable faffing is almost impossible.

    Buzzword « We Don't Count Your Own Visits To Your Blog 2007

  • I do like the word faffing, but a more literal and correct translation of the title of this survey from MyVoice would be filling free time with mobile content.

    Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-28 2009

  • Another example is "faffing," a word used by Q-Matic, a company that designs waiting systems, to describe the wasted time when one customer gathers his or her belongings after completing checkout.

    Justice -- Wait for It -- on the Checkout Line 2009

  • Compare with my table and you'll see that, by 'faffing', you'll double your gains and effectively double your interest rate!

    Fool.co.uk - Headlines 2009

  • If anybody's got a persuasive argument in favour of the blasted thing I'll give it a hearing, but I've yet to hear one that doesn't sound like a justification for faffing about instead of working.

    Archive 2009-06-01 Roger Langridge 2009

  • And I'm perfectly capable of faffing about on my own.

    Archive 2009-06-01 Roger Langridge 2009

  • And I'm perfectly capable of faffing about on my own.

    Middle-Class Twit Roger Langridge 2009

Comments

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  • My father used to tell me to stop "faffing" about....

    Made me giggle everytime. Much to his chagrin.

    January 27, 2008

  • Faffing about = wasting time, messing about, taking a long time to do things instead of the direct/short way, English slang

    June 8, 2009