walking in circles

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiomfigurative

   spending time and effort without making any real progress

   Grammar: Often used after 'be' or 'go around', and can describe people, discussions, or projects.

   Patterns

   • be walking in circles
   • go around in circles
   • keep walking in circles

   We've been walking in circles for hours and still haven't chosen a topic.

   The meeting felt like walking in circles; nobody agreed on anything.

   Stop walking in circles and decide what you actually want to do.

2. 2phraseintransitive

   moving around in a circle, especially because of being lost or confused

   Grammar: This literal meaning describes physical movement and is less common than the figurative one.

   Patterns

   • be walking in circles
   • walk in circles around something

   The hikers were walking in circles after losing the trail in the fog.

   The child was walking in circles around the tree, singing to herself.

Common combinations

go around in circles

We keep going around in circles instead of solving the problem.

be walking in circles

The team is walking in circles because no one will make a decision.

keep walking in circles

If we keep walking in circles, we'll miss the deadline.

after hours of discussion

After hours of discussion, we were still walking in circles.

Synonyms and how they differ

going nowhere

This means making no progress at all; 'walking in circles' suggests repeated effort that still leads nowhere.

spinning your wheels

This informal phrase also means wasting effort without progress, and it is common in American English.

Opposites

Word family

circle noun

a round shape or a group of people with a shared interest

walk verb

to move on foot

Commonly confused: walking in circles or walking on eggshells?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “walking in circles”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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