phrasal verb🧩 phrasal verb

sit back

to relax in chair

What it means

To lean back in your chair to relax. Figuratively, it means to take no action and let events happen without getting involved.

Examples

  • Sit back, relax, and enjoy a glass of wine before dinner is ready.
  • We can't just sit back and watch our forests disappear like this.
  • He sat back in his armchair and lit his pipe with a contented sigh.
  • After years of hard work, she finally sat back and enjoyed her retirement.

Where it comes from

Inseparable phrasal verb. The figurative 'do nothing' sense often appears in the disapproving phrase 'sit back and watch' since the early 1900s.

Related phrasal verbs

#sit down#sit up#lie down#calm down

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