dallies

verb

present tense third-person singular of dally
1
as in plays
to engage in activity for amusement he spent his college years dallying, seemingly determined to acquire as little knowledge as possible

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lingers
to move or act slowly don't dally on the way to the interview

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in flirts
to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun she spent the summer dallying with a guy renting the neighboring beach house

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4
as in lazes
to spend time doing nothing I kept dallying at my desk until I couldn't put off doing my work any longer

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dallies
  1. plays
  2. lingers
  3. flirts
  4. dawdles
  5. drags
  6. idles
  7. delays
  8. rests
Verb
  • Kim plays Seo Yeon-woo, the strategist behind Jeong’s push for revenge, bringing a sharp eye for judgment and motives all his own.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Music, David said, plays a significant role in his recovery process.
    — Bianna Golodryga, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of plays
Verb
  • Nearly the entire group lingers in the living room—playing chess, swapping stories, exchanging photos.
    — Johanna Wolfe, Robb Report, 22 Aug. 2026
  • As attendees make their way out of the venue, excitement lingers through the air.
    — Kailyn Brown, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of lingers
Verb
  • Hal flirts with Kerry; John has an affair with Zoe (Poorna Jagannathan), the wife of William Macon (Garret Dillahunt), a local cattle mogul whose compound has more high tech weaponry than a mere human would seem to need.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Rachel dates a shoe store operator named Lou (Bob Hoskins), while Charlotte nurses a crush on her handsome young school bus driver and flirts with Catholicism to the chagrin of her Jewish mother.
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 17 July 2026
Definition of flirts
Verb
  • But Koreeda dawdles over all that without ever finding much dramatic nuance, making for a dullish midsection.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026
  • But while the new movie dawdles on its way to Toxie’s origins, then rushes toward a finale with a lurching rhythm that verges on calculated ineptitude, its spirit never feels inauthentic.
    — Alison Willmore, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025
Definition of dawdles
Verb
  • Some of those embassy staff may start returning to their posts soon, however the State Department is still limiting the number of personnel in the Middle East as the war in Iran drags on.
    — Greg Dixon, NPR, 21 Aug. 2026
  • But after years of unprecedented contributions to astronomy, the forces governing the cosmos are finally taking their toll as Earth’s gravitational pull slowly drags the telescope closer towards a point of no return.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of drags
Verb
  • As your car idles, warm air blown from the top of your dashboard will melt the ice on the outside of the windshield.
    — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 27 Dec. 2025
  • Security camera footage shows a black vehicle park in front of Café Bernardo, a restaurant, and idles for about two minutes.
    — Madisen Keavy, CBS News, 17 Dec. 2025
Definition of idles
Verb
  • Nearly all report that the process contributes to burnout and delays care.
    — Richard Menger MD MPA, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Cellphone use before bed delays the natural drop in cortisol that teenagers need to fall asleep, according to Alice Hoagland, PhD, director of the Insomnia Clinic at the Rochester Regional Sleep Disorder Center.
    — Samantha Agate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of delays
Verb
  • Last year, the park said the plane now rests at shallower depths that do not require technical dive expertise.
    — Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Its sustainability case, if any, therefore rests for now on the unverified prospect that a durable, multipurpose outsole could extend shoe use or reduce the need for terrain-specific footwear.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of rests
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Dallies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dallies. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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