window-shopping

window-shopping

The act of visiting stores, or looking in their windows, to see what is available without buying anything. My bank account is so sad these days that I'll only be window-shopping for a while! A: "You guys really went in that expensive boutique?" B: "Yeah, but we were only window-shopping, don't worry! We know we can't afford anything in there!"
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • come out to be
  • be in a sorry state
  • broken heart
  • everything okay?
  • (Is) everything OK?
  • a sob story
  • a state of affairs
  • a sad state (of affairs)
  • sight
  • state
References in periodicals archive
The phrase which warns the buyer to beware is being turned on its head as increasing numbers of employers use window-shopping tactics at interview, with absolutely no intention of taking anyone on.
APPOINTMENTS: Is it fair to use job interviews as a 'window shopping' exercise?
Rhoda Scott has little difficulty window-shopping in the centre of Newcastle these days.
Free to wander
Then the couple went window-shopping in the nearby Marina Mirage shopping centre.
Toyah took the biscuit
You can't go sightseeing or window-shopping for fear of being accosted by beggars and you are abused if you try to ignore them.
Your views: Culture clash
WINDOW-shopping has been given a whole new meaning by a Coventry marketing company.
Screen team
The wider sidewalks also improve the window-shopping experience at the more than 150 stores along the street.
Greenwich Village to celebrate Eighth Street improvements
The best place to start window-shopping is right in the middle, at the precooked meals section, with exhibit number 28: Unfinished Painting, 1978.
Patrick Caulfield