DALLIES Synonyms: 190 Similar and Opposite Words

dallies

verb

present tense third-person singular of dally

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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as in lingers

to move or act slowly don't dally on the way to the interview

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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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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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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dallies

Verb

Beyond serving as an incentive and accountability mechanism in the human academic research ecosystem, there are commercial incentives for discovery, and credit plays a different role in that setting.

— Jeffrey S. Flier, STAT, 5 Oct. 2026
Park Hae-il plays the head of a newspaper’s social affairs desk, and Lee Min-ho a rookie reporter.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of plays

Verb

If a strange new scent appears or concern lingers, Harvard Health advises talking to a doctor.

— Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 2026
In the scene, Simon’s family speaks Kreyòl — although to varying degrees of proficiency — and the camera lingers on the Haitian feast presented on the table.

— Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 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

Republicans have expressed growing pessimism about their chances in the election, which will determine control of Congress, as the president has repeatedly dismissed concerns about high costs and gas prices as his unpopular war in Iran drags on.

— MICHELLE L. PRICE, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
In it, a botched secret mission drags Eken Babu into a mystery in Kerala.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 Sep. 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

Fat actually delays gastric emptying and digestion even more, keeping blood sugar much steadier.

— Mira Miller, Verywell Health, 17 Sep. 2026
Tennis has always been highly dependent on the weather; unlike in soccer or football, rain cancels or delays a match until the court is dry enough to be playable.

— Aaron Short, Curbed, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of delays

Verb

As Berg explained, the key to the players’ theory rests on signing away their rights to the NCAA.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Dyson’s reputation rests on reengineering mundane household products (vacuums, hair dryers and fans) around proprietary tech and premium pricing.

— Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 6 Oct. 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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dalliers

dallies

dally

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“Dallies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dallies. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of dallies

verb

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