Relaxation and leisure words and expressions

I Some adjectives describing free time and leisure pursuits

fruitful - producing good results; (possible examples: cooperating with sb in an activity)

• It was a most fruitful discussion, with both sides agreeing to adopt a common policy. 

lucrative - producing a lot of money; (selling your own arts or crafts, writing computer games,..)

• Painting has been a lucrative pursuit for her.She often sells her paintings online.

rewarding - giving a lot of positive experience and satisfaction; (doing voluntary work, helping charities)

• Textbook writing can be an intellectually and financially rewarding activity. 

relaxing/calming - reducing stress, giving a peaceful feeling; (listening to music, reading)

• I find swimming so relaxing. 

therapeutic - making you healthy in body and/or mind; (gardening, meditation, yoga)

• Fishing is such a therapeutic activity. It makes me feel good, and teaches me patience.

time-consuming - taking a lot of time to do; (being a member of a committee, being president of a club)

• I enjoyed being a secretary of the sports club but it was very time-consuming. I had to give up two evenings a week to do it. 

II Some informal words describing the way  people spend their leisure

couch potato - a person who watches a lot of television and does not have an active style of life;

• I'm a bit of a couch potato. I spend hours every day just watching TV.

culture vulture - someone who is very interested in anything cultural; 

• David's a real culture vulture; he goes to every theatre and art gallery he can find.

dabbler - a person who never keeps doing one activity for long;

• Jane's a bit of a dabbler: she does a pastime for a couple of weeks, then she gets bored and starts something different.

shopaholic - someone addicted to shopping;

• Dina's a shopaholic. She buys all sorts of things she doesn't need.

alcoholic - a person who is unable to give up the habit of drinking alcohol very often and in large amounts;

• Most alcoholics secretly hope that they will be able to drink sociably like other people.

doer - someone who gets actively involved in something, rather than just thinking or talking about it;

• There are too many thinkers and not enough doers in this office. 

III Expressions and collocations connected with involvement in activities

be heavily into sth - informal: to be very interested in and involved with something;

• When I was younger I was heavily into politics. 

go off - informal: stop liking, lose interest in;

• I went off football and I started playing tennis instead.

get up to - do something, often something that other people would disapprove of;

• I wonder what those two got up to yesterday? 

lock yourself away - isolate yourself from the world;

• She locks herself away for hours in front of the computer.

hooked on sth - addicted to sth;

• She's totally hooked on playing games these days.

full diary - a lot of commitments/activities;

• Are you busy this week? Yes, I have a pretty full diary.

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