Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

dally

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of dally

1 to engage in activity for amusement
  • He spent his college years dallying, seemingly determined to acquire as little knowledge as possible.
Synonyms of dally

disport, frolic, play, recreate, rollick, skylark, sport, toy
Words Related to dally

cavort, frisk, gambol, romp

dabble, trifle

amuse, divert, entertain

delight, please

dabble, fiddle (around), mess around, putter (around)

bum (around), dawdle, idle, loaf, lounge (around or about), relax, rest, screw around, slack (off)

jest, joke, tease
Near Antonyms of dally

drudge, labor, plod, plug (away), slave, strain, strive, struggle, sweat, toil, work
2 to move or act slowly
  • Don't dally on the way to the interview.
Synonyms of dally

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

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
Phrases Synonymous with dally

drag one's feet (also drag one's heels), drop behind, fall behind, hang fire, mark time, take one's time
Near Antonyms of dally

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
Antonyms of dally

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
3 to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun
  • twenty-somethings who spent the summer dallying with the group renting the neighboring beach house
Synonyms of dally

flirt, toy, trifle
Words Related to dally

vamp

court, mash, woo

josh, kid, put on, razz, rib, tease

fool, lead on, string along

manipulate, play (with)
4 to spend time doing nothing
  • I kept dallying at my desk until I couldn't put off doing my work any longer.
Synonyms of dally

bum, chill, dawdle, dillydally, goof (off), hack (around), hang (around or out), idle, kick around, kick back, laze, lazy, loaf, loll, lounge, veg out
Words Related to dally

fiddle (around), fool, mess, monkey, muck, piddle, play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle

lag, linger, loiter, poke, relax, rest, tarry

amble, mosey, saunter, stroll
Phrases Synonymous with dally

kill time, twiddle one's thumbs
Near Antonyms of dally

drudge, grind, grub, hump, hustle, labor, moil, peg, plod, plow, plug, slave, sweat, toil, travail, work

apply, buckle (down)

exert, put out

Synonym Discussion of 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

Learn More about dally

  1. See words that rhyme with dally Dictionary: Definition of dally Spanish Central: Translation of dally Nglish: Translation of dally for Spanish speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up dally? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games