According to Ushakov's explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, pastime is a colloquial word for a way of using the available time. Often you can also find the word "pastime". They have the same meaning.
Examples of pastimes
In order to better understand what the word "pastime" means, it is worth paying attention to those areas of life that are outside of work. For example, parties or holidays where a lot of people come. We can say that the mere presence at the event, the change of scenery is an excellent example of a pleasant pastime. But it can be more detailed.
Usually a large number of people are divided into interest groups, each of which has its own topics of interest only to them. Someone can play a variety of games at this time, sing karaoke or dance. That is, for each person, pastime is a way to spend their free time.
What a pastime is like
Leaving the doors of the office, people find themselves in a different environment, which is not as structured and subject to rules as work. Therefore, everyone spends the available time indifferently. For one, the best pastime is to spend the evening in front of the TV. Another may have interesting and rewarding hobbies such as knitting, cooking classes, sports, horseback riding.
By the way, it can be completely pointless. For example, you can just sit in a cafe and wait for a certain time for which the meeting is scheduled.
Often, those who are planning a trip on vacation or a holiday wish to have a good time or have a great time, have fun, relax, recharge their batteries, get a lot of vivid impressions.
Various Interests
Since pastime is a way to spend hours of free time, it is recommended to choose interesting options. For people of different ages, gender, education and social class, pastime can be very different. Even the topics of conversation at parties for different audiences can be fundamentally different, as well as ways to relax. It's hard to imagine that older ladies, who are used to gathering on certain days to play loto, suddenly decide to break this ritual and replace it with a visit to a karaoke bar.
Parents know how important it is to keep track of teenagers' pastimes. Due to the sufficient amount of free time and the lack of the ability to effectively occupy it, there is a risk that the child will begin to commit rash acts. That is why all kinds of sports and creative circles are so relevant.
