goof off

goof off

1. verb To engage in aimless recreation or frivolous time-wasting; to fool around. Quit goofing off and get to work on your book report already!
2. noun One who is apt to waste time and fool around. In this usage, the phrase is usually hyphenated. Hey, you goof-offs in the back row need to calm down and be quiet!
See also: goof, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

goof off

to waste time. John is always goofing off. Quit goofing off and get to work!
See also: goof, off
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

goof off

v.
To waste time, especially by acting foolishly or frivolously: The students spent their free time goofing off instead of working on the project.
See also: goof, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

goof off

1. and goof around in. to waste time. You guys are goofing off again! Get busy. Stop goofing around.
2. n. a time-waster; a jerk. (Usually goof-off.) I’m no goof-off, but I am no scholar either.
See also: goof, off
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • goof around
  • screw off
  • horse around
  • fool away
  • futz with
  • futz with (something)
References in periodicals archive
I feel traditional equipment (self-bow, recurve, longbow) is more fun, because these types of bows are easier to goof off with.
Gronkowski may still be a goof off the field, but Harrison believes he's matured on it.
We were supposed to be medically checked over and goof off for 30 days and play volleyball.
In the actual transfer procedure, we used cotton swabs dampened with a little Goof Off, then used a metal spoon in a circular motion to transfer the image onto the good paper.
Doubek knows other vets, accustomed to military orderliness and respect, get frustrated when classmates goof off. She said she takes such students' behavior in stride, in part because in the Navy she was used to dealing with 18-year-olds' attitudes while managing younger sailors.
I used to take it more seriously and want to compete with great players, now I just want to goof off and play with my friends every now and then.
Rub a bit of the cleaning product Goof Off over the paint to determine if it's latex or oil-based paint.
Then sometimes he got bored, and he'd start to goof off on stage.
(Mamet also is a co-founder of the Atlantic.) But "Pantheon" delivers some hearty laughs, and even the American theater's leading chronicler of bellicose masculinity needs to goof off once in a while.
Stay up on your work and don't goof off. Just stay up on your work.
All you women and aspiring pro-hoes, heed the words of the oracle known as Ryan: "Be flexible, goof off a little, don't sit around, and show you care."
When it's time to goof off, the software supports digital video recorders, such as TiVo, allowing users to burn shows to DVD or convert them for play on iPods.
YOU HAVE TO BABYSIT THEM TOO, OR THEY'LL JUST GOOF OFF AND ROB YOU BLIND ...
In Gifted or Goof Off?: Fact and Fiction of the Famous (ISBN 1-931334-23-4), the author takes a close look at the stories of well-known people in different walks of life.
We used to do the book every other year in the '70s and early '80s, and frankly, we would goof off that off year.