English Reference

Word

aimlessly

Phoneticsaim·less·ly

US/ˈeɪmɫəsɫi/

UK/ˈeɪmləsli/

Definition

adv. without any clear purpose or direction. You use this to describe someone who moves or acts without knowing where they are going.

adv. in a manner lacking a specific goal or direction.

Examples

“He walked aimlessly through the park for an hour.”

“After the meeting ended, the employees sat aimlessly in the lobby, waiting for the next task.”

“The protagonist spends the first half of the novel wandering aimlessly through the city, searching for a sense of belonging that he cannot quite define.”

Examples

simple

“He walked aimlessly through the park for an hour.”

contextual

“After the meeting ended, the employees sat aimlessly in the lobby, waiting for the next task.”

complex

“The protagonist spends the first half of the novel wandering aimlessly through the city, searching for a sense of belonging that he cannot quite define.”

Etymology

From aimless + -ly.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/aimlessly

English Reference