Dictionary

time vampire en · NOUN

Etymology

From time + vampire.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, informal) A person, obligation, or activity that drains one's time; a time-waster.
   • TV is the biggest time vampire in our culture. 2001, Ted Broer, Maximum Fat Loss:
   • Believe it or not, a "gentle clue" to a time vampire is the equivalent of a two-by-four over the head for most people. 2004, Shaun Belding, Winning with the Customer from Hell, page 184:
   • The telephone is to time vampires what blood banks are to real vampires. 1994, Davida Jean Weinberg, Reciprocity Reconsidered, page 287:
   • That any systematic critique of the capitalist employer as time vampire is thereby short-circuited is plain. 2013, T. Ferguson, Victorian Time: Technologies, Standardizations, Catastrophes, page 24:
   • Yes, the apps on your computer and phone are the biggest time vampires of all time. 2020, Brent Spencer, A Handbook for the Online Student: Learning in Difficult Times:
   • The night is a time-vampire as far as taking care of your skin goes. 2005, Judy Steinberg, Raechel Donahue, The Ropes: Girls Have the Rules, Women Know the Ropes, page 159:
2. A variety of vampire that feeds off time or potential years of life.
   • Do you mean that Jarmyn Thanatos is some kind of a— a time vampire? 1997, Brad Strickland, John Bellairs, The Bell, the Book and the Spellbinder:
   • “I'm a time vampire,” Loretta Vampireclanso-called-jiangshi said. “I can take time from people, or give it away.” 2017, Emily Martha Sorensen, Trials of a Teenage Werevulture:
   • But I was laying low, and vampires can't always be choosers, even time vampires. 2023, Eileen Merriman, Time's Raven:

Forms

Relateds

energy vampire