fanny about

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Also seen as: fanny around

Sense 1

Meaning · English

To waste time or fool around; to engage in activity which produces little or no accomplishment.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Lãng phí thời gian hoặc làm việc không hiệu quả

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Register: slang

Examples

Then he dithered and fannied about.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Meaning · English

To wander about or prowl around.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Lang thang hoặc đi dạo xung quanh

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Register: slang

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “fanny about” mean?

To waste time or fool around; to engage in activity which produces little or no accomplishment.

Is “fanny about” formal or informal?

fanny about is generally slang.