dillydally

dil·ly·dal·ly

intransitive verb \ˈdi-lē-ˌda-lē\

Definition of DILLYDALLY

: to waste time by loitering or delaying : dawdle

Examples of DILLYDALLY

1. <don't dillydally on the way to the store>
2. <restaurant employees who, during the slow periods, would rather be doing something instead of just dillydallying>

Origin of DILLYDALLY

reduplication of dally

First Known Use: 1741

Related to DILLYDALLY

Synonyms

crawl, creep, dally, dawdle, diddle, delay, drag, lag, linger, loiter, lollygag (also lallygag), mope, poke, shilly-shally, tarry

Antonyms

barrel, bolt, career, course, dash, fly, hasten, hotfoot (it), hurry, race, rip, rocket, run, rush, scoot, scud, scurry, speed, tear, whirl, whisk, whiz (or whizz), zip

Related Words

fiddle (around), fool around, mess around, monkey (around), play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle; hang (around or out), idle, loaf, loll, lounge; amble, ease, inch, lumber, plod, saunter, shuffle, stagger, stroll; decelerate, slow (down or up); filibuster, procrastinate, stall, temporize

Near Antonyms

bowl, breeze, dart, hump, hurtle, hustle, scramble, stampede; gallop, jog, run, sprint, trot; accelerate, quicken, speed (up); catch up, fast-forward, outpace, outrun, outstrip, overtake

Rhymes with DILLYDALLY

Central Valley, Great Rift Valley, Mexicali, shilly-shally, teocalli, Tin Pan Alley