暇つぶし
Meanings
1
killing time; passing time
Neutral or positive nuance: doing something enjoyable or useful to fill spare time.
I killed time playing a smartphone game on the train.
Shall we go for a walk to pass the time?
2
wasting time; time-waster
Negative nuance: doing something pointless or unproductive; often used critically.
That kind of meeting is just a waste of time.
I was just wasting time browsing the internet, and now it's already midnight.
Usage patterns
- 〈事〉は暇つぶしになるsomething serves as a way to kill time
Smartphone games make a good way to kill time.
- 暇つぶしに〈動詞〉to do something just to pass the time
I went for a walk just to kill time.
- 〈物〉で暇つぶしをするto kill time using something
I killed time on my phone on the train.