Synonyms of dallying

dallying 1 of 3

adjective

as in leisurely

moving or proceeding at less than the normal, desirable, or required speed

the dallying diners seemed oblivious to the fact that other customers were impatiently waiting for tables

Synonyms & Similar Words

• leisurely
• slow
• dilatory
• dillydallying
• dragging
• creeping
• crawling
• lagging
• dawdling
• tardy
• laggard
• unhurried
• poking
• poky
• languid
• slowing
• sluggish
• snail-paced
• snaillike
• lounging
• lingering
• deliberate
• loitering
• ambling
• lethargic
• tarrying
• loafing
• inert
• inactive
• procrastinating
• plodding
• strolling
• shuffling
• measured
• stalling
• decelerating
• heavy-footed
• inching
• slow-footed
• filibustering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rushing
• rapid
• hasty
• lightning
• running
• speeding
• speedy
• swift
• flying
• brisk
• breathless
• racing
• quick
• whirlwind
• fast
• dizzy
• ready
• meteoric
• bolting
• rocketing
• hurrying
• fleet
• expeditious
• snappy
• prompt
• scudding
• whirling
• warp-speed
• zipping
• careering
• scurrying
• breakneck
• whisking
• scooting
• barreling
• accelerated
• hastened
• hurried
• rushed
• quickened

dallying

2 of 3

noun

as in loafing

Related Words

• loafing
• lolling
• lounging
• goldbricking
• lethargy
• languor
• supineness
• inertia
• apathy
• indolence
• sluggishness
• lassitude
• laziness
• shiftlessness
• sloth
• idleness
• listlessness

Dissimilar Words

• industry
• drive
• industriousness
• ambition
• enterprise
• go
• initiative
• hustle
• diligence
• assiduity
• perseverance
• energy
• vigor
• animation
• exuberance
• assiduousness
• vivacity
• liveliness
• briskness
• vitality
• sprightliness
• vim
• pep
• robustness
• lustiness
• vibrancy
• jazziness
• peppiness

dallying

3 of 3

verb

present participle of dally

1

as in playing

to engage in activity for amusement

he spent his college years dallying, seemingly determined to acquire as little knowledge as possible

Synonyms & Similar Words

• playing
• toying
• frolicking
• recreating
• skylarking
• rollicking
• disporting
• entertaining
• sporting
• joking
• relaxing
• amusing
• cavorting
• romping
• delighting
• dabbling
• resting
• frisking
• trifling
• gamboling
• teasing
• pleasing
• dawdling
• hanging
• diverting
• loafing
• idling
• jesting
• fiddling (around)
• puttering (around)
• lounging (around or about)
• goldbricking
• screwing around
• messing around
• slacking (off)
• hanging about
• bumming (around)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• working
• laboring
• toiling
• sweating
• striving
• plodding
• struggling
• straining
• plugging (away)
• slaving
• drudging

2

as in delaying

to move or act slowly

don't dally on the way to the interview

Synonyms & Similar Words

• delaying
• lingering
• dragging
• poking
• crawling
• strolling
• dawdling
• loitering
• creeping
• lollygagging
• diddling
• playing
• tarrying
• moping
• stalling
• dillydallying
• lagging
• shuffling
• shilly-shallying
• falling behind
• lounging
• marking time
• hanging fire
• dropping behind
• idling
• loafing
• sauntering
• ambling
• trifling
• taking one's time
• dragging one's feet
• staggering
• lolling
• puttering (around)
• fiddling (around)
• procrastinating
• pottering (around)
• fooling around
• inching
• hanging (around or out)
• temporizing
• monkeying (around)
• messing around
• decelerating
• plodding
• easing
• slowing (down or up)
• lumbering
• filibustering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hurrying
• flying
• speeding
• rushing
• running
• dashing
• tearing
• scurrying
• hastening
• whirling
• racing
• scudding
• zipping
• coursing
• careering
• ripping
• darting
• whisking
• bolting
• scooting
• whizzing
• barreling
• rocketing
• hustling
• scrambling
• breezing
• galloping
• hurtling
• trotting
• bowling
• humping
• running
• stampeding
• sprinting
• jogging
• accelerating
• hotfooting (it)
• quickening
• speeding (up)
• overtaking
• outrunning
• outstripping
• catching up
• outpacing
• fast-forwarding

3

as in flirting

to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun

she spent the summer dallying with a guy renting the neighboring beach house

Synonyms & Similar Words

• flirting
• coquetting
• toying
• trifling
• frivoling
• vamping
• wooing
• courting
• messing around
• teasing
• fooling
• kidding
• mashing
• ribbing
• joshing
• playing (with)
• razzing
• leading on
• manipulating
• stringing along
• putting on

4

as in dawdling

to spend time doing nothing

I kept dallying at my desk until I couldn't put off doing my work any longer

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dawdling
• loafing
• lounging
• dillydallying
• idling
• lazing
• strolling
• bumming
• resting
• footling
• lazying
• playing
• lolling
• chilling
• poking
• droning
• relaxing
• mucking
• hanging (around or out)
• hacking (around)
• messing
• lingering
• vegging out
• goofing (off)
• killing time
• kicking back
• monkeying
• hanging about
• fooling
• piddling
• trifling
• twiddling one's thumbs
• loitering
• sauntering
• hibernating
• ambling
• dozing
• kicking around
• tarrying
• swanning
• moseying
• puttering (around)
• fiddling (around)
• pottering (around)
• lagging
• estivating
• goldbricking
• malingering
• truanting
• furloughing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• laboring
• working
• toiling
• plowing
• grubbing
• grinding
• sweating
• hustling
• plugging
• plodding
• slaving
• humping
• pegging
• applying
• drudging
• moiling
• buckling (down)
• exerting
• travailing
• putting out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dallying

Verb

The total driving time for this trip is just under five hours (not including ferries), but with so much to see, factor in plenty of time for dilly-dallying. — Katy Spratte Joyce, Travel + Leisure, 3 July 2026

At Ojai, Lewis wistfully performed the solo prelude off in Libbey Park shrubbery as if a dallying forest spirit summoning ghosts of festivals past. — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2026