dally

verb

dal·​ly ˈda-lē 

dallied; dallying

intransitive verb

1

a

: to act playfully

especially : to play amorously

b

: to deal lightly : toy

accused him of dallying with a serious problem

2

a

: to waste time

b

: linger, dawdle

dallier noun

Did you know?

The Evolution of Dally

English speakers have been futzing around with dally since the late Middle Ages. They first started using it to mean "to chat," which was also the meaning of dalier, the Anglo-French word whence it came, but this sense fell into disuse. Next, they applied it to acting playfully with someone especially in amorous and flirtatious ways (the noun dalliance, meaning "an act of dallying," is to this day often used for situations where people get all smoochy and whatnot). The idea of more figurative flirtatiousness soon led to a sense of dally meaning "to deal with lightly or in a way that is not serious." Finally, by the mid-16th century, perhaps because fuddy-duddies saw all of this fun and frivolity as a waste of time, dally gained the additional meanings of "to waste time" and "to dawdle."

Synonyms

• play

Choose the Right Synonym for dally

trifle, toy, dally, flirt, coquet mean to deal with or act toward without serious purpose.

trifle may imply playfulness, unconcern, indulgent contempt.

to trifle with a lover's feelings

toy implies acting without full attention or serious exertion of one's powers.

a political novice toying with great issues

dally suggests indulging in thoughts or plans merely as an amusement.

dallying with the idea of building a boat someday

flirt implies an interest or attention that soon passes to another object.

flirted with one fashionable ism after another

coquet implies attracting interest or admiration without serious intention.

companies that coquet with environmentalism solely for public relations

delay, procrastinate, lag, loiter, dawdle, dally mean to move or act slowly so as to fall behind.

delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).

we cannot delay any longer

procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

procrastinates about making decisions

lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.

lagging behind in technology

loiter and dawdle imply delay while in progress, especially in walking, but dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time.

loitered at several store windows

children dawdling on their way home from school

dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.

stop dallying and get to work

Examples of dally in a Sentence

The two of us dallied over our coffee that morning.

Recent Examples on the Web

While deleterious when recurring over the course of a lifetime, dilly-dallying can kill even quicker on a basketball court. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 27 Feb. 2025

Arsenal need only look at title rivals Liverpool to see the dangers of dallying. —James McNicholas, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025

The Dodgers were dallying in Scott's trade market ahead of the 2024 trade deadline before he was sent to the San Diego Padres along with reliever Bryan Hoeing for four minor league players. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 9 Feb. 2025

There is a decision to be made — and after two years of dilly-dallying, it can’t be delayed any longer. —Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 1 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English dalyen, from Anglo-French dalier

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing dally

• dally with

Rhymes for dally

• alley
• alli
• bally
• calli
• challis
• galley
• galli
• lally
• mallee
• mally
• rally
• salley

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Kids Definition

dally

verb

dal·​ly ˈdal-ē 

dallied; dallying

1

: to act playfully : trifle

2

a

: to waste time

dally at one's work

b

: linger sense 1, dawdle

dally on the way home

dallier noun