Synonyms of droning

droning

verb

present participle of drone

1

as in humming

to fly, turn, or move rapidly with a fluttering or vibratory sound

the sound of droning bees all around us

Synonyms & Similar Words

• humming
• buzzing
• zipping
• whirring
• whispering
• hissing
• whizzing
• burring
• sighing
• whistling
• murmuring
• zooming
• bumbling
• thrumming
• whishing
• purring
• chirring
• cooing
• churring
• wheezing
• rustling
• swishing
• fizzing
• curring
• whooshing
• sizzling

2

as in idling

to spend time doing nothing

instead of getting a job, he preferred to drone and live off his parents

Synonyms & Similar Words

• idling
• chilling
• dawdling
• playing
• lounging
• loafing
• lolling
• poking
• bumming
• resting
• relaxing
• lazing
• dillydallying
• footling
• strolling
• lazying
• hanging (around or out)
• lingering
• mucking
• hacking (around)
• vegging out
• messing
• goofing (off)
• dallying
• killing time
• kicking back
• hanging about
• dozing
• monkeying
• piddling
• twiddling one's thumbs
• fooling
• kicking around
• ambling
• trifling
• sauntering
• hibernating
• loitering
• estivating
• fiddling (around)
• lagging
• puttering (around)
• pottering (around)
• swanning
• moseying
• tarrying
• malingering
• goldbricking
• truanting
• furloughing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• grinding
• plodding
• laboring
• working
• plowing
• toiling
• sweating
• plugging
• hustling
• slaving
• grubbing
• humping
• pegging
• drudging
• applying
• buckling (down)
• moiling
• travailing
• exerting
• putting out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of droning

Rustling and droning tape effects from Frye, subtle enough to be nearly subliminal but still somehow palpably present, act as a binding agent on every track, blurring tones and connecting rhythms. — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 6 Oct. 2026

Imagine Marlon James in a crisp, white shirt and conservative tie, droning through another day of brainless ad copy. — Geoff Edgers, Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2026

His robust, under-appreciated score is composed with droning synthesizer undercurrents, old-fashioned action adventure fanfares, and intense rapid-fire tracks punctuated by brass exclamations and roaring percussion. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 27 July 2026

The mics do a good job of cutting out droning background noise. — Mark Knapp, PC Magazine, 8 July 2026

Usually, the town’s namesake island, far down in downstate Illinois, is quiet enough to hear the hum of the barges droning along the Mississippi River. — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026

The sound of tattoo machines droning at different pitches filled the air at the fifth annual Capitol City Classic tattoo convention, on Saturday afternoon, the second day of its three-day run. — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 14 June 2026

Instead, there’s a surplus of annoying, droning noise. — Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 11 June 2026

There’s no sound more evocative of summer than that of an old-school ice cream maker’s motor droning its monotonous naaaaaaaa with the backbeat of gas station ice and rock salt grinding and shifting against the spinning ice cream cannister. — Josh Miller, Southern Living, 31 May 2026