dawdle

verb

daw·​dle ˈdȯ-dᵊl 

dawdled; dawdling ˈdȯ-dliŋ 

-dᵊl-iŋ

intransitive verb

1

: to spend time idly

… dawdled about in the vestibule …

—Jane Austen

2

: to move lackadaisically

"I don't want you dawdling while you making deliveries for Mrs. Ford."

—Connie Porter

transitive verb

: to spend fruitlessly or lackadaisically

dawdled the day away

dawdler

ˈdȯ-dlər 

-dᵊl-ər

noun

Synonyms

• crawl
• creep
• dally
• delay
• diddle
• dillydally
• drag
• lag
• linger
• loiter
• lollygag
• lallygag
• mope
• poke
• shilly-shally
• tarry

Choose the Right Synonym for dawdle

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 dawdle in a Sentence

Hurry up! There's no time to dawdle.

Come home immediately after school, and don't dawdle.

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead, season three of The White Lotus dawdles too long, trying to save too much of the good stuff for the end. —Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2025

Past Republican presidents were content to dawdle on tax cuts and entitlement reform, but Trump, understanding that the values of America are communicated through its art and entertainment, has instead sought to impose his fairly common and generally decent tastes on popular culture. —Peter Tonguette, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025

Players dawdled on the ball in key moments, hesitant to make mistakes. —Carl Anka, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Skelly secured the Obama Administration’s commitment to buy his energy, but in the course of a decade the project slowly collapsed, as state powers dawdled and eventually refused to issue the necessary permits. —Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

circa 1656, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Rhymes for dawdle

• caudal
• caudle
• model
• twaddle
• waddle
• remodel

Kids Definition

dawdle

verb

daw·​dle ˈdȯd-ᵊl 

dawdled; dawdling ˈdȯd-liŋ 

-ᵊl-iŋ

1

: to spend time wastefully or idly : linger

dawdled over her homework

2

: to move slowly and aimlessly : loiter

dawdled on the way back

3

: idle entry 2 sense 1

dawdle the time away

dawdler

ˈdȯd-lər 

-ᵊl-ər

noun