Synonyms of dawdle

dawdle

verb

ˈdȯ-dᵊl 

1

as in to delay

to move or act slowly

if you continue to dawdle, we'll be late for sure

Synonyms & Similar Words

• delay
• linger
• crawl
• drag
• poke
• stroll
• loiter
• lollygag
• creep
• mope
• play
• lag
• tarry
• shuffle
• diddle
• mark time
• lallygag
• fall behind
• stall
• hang fire
• dillydally
• drop behind
• shilly-shally
• lounge
• stagger
• idle
• drag one's heels
• saunter
• dally
• take one's time
• amble
• drag one's feet
• trifle
• fool around
• fiddle (around)
• procrastinate
• hang (around or out)
• decelerate
• putter (around)
• temporize
• potter (around)
• loaf
• monkey (around)
• slow (down or up)
• mess around
• loll
• plod
• ease
• inch
• lumber
• filibuster

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hurry
• rush
• course
• race
• hasten
• scurry
• run
• fly
• speed
• career
• tear
• scoot
• rocket
• rip
• whirl
• dash
• whisk
• breeze
• scramble
• bolt
• zip
• hustle
• hurtle
• dart
• run
• barrel
• gallop
• hump
• stampede
• jog
• trot
• whiz
• whizz
• accelerate
• sprint
• scud
• hotfoot (it)
• quicken
• speed (up)
• overtake
• outrun
• bowl
• catch up
• outstrip
• outpace
• fast-forward

2

as in to lazy

to spend time doing nothing

accused the city council of dawdling even as the crime rate was spiraling out of control

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lazy
• stroll
• idle
• laze
• lounge
• relax
• bum
• dillydally
• chill
• rest
• play
• kill time
• goof (off)
• hang (around or out)
• linger
• kick back
• poke
• loll
• veg out
• loaf
• dally
• hack (around)
• muck
• hang about
• mess
• drone
• loiter
• footle
• piddle
• saunter
• fool
• twiddle one's thumbs
• amble
• kick around
• trifle
• mosey
• aestivate
• fiddle (around)
• doze
• monkey
• tarry
• lag
• hibernate
• putter (around)
• estivate
• potter (around)
• malinger
• goldbrick
• truant
• swan
• furlough

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• work
• slave
• toil
• plod
• labor
• grind
• hustle
• sweat
• plow
• plug
• apply
• hump
• drudge
• buckle (down)
• peg
• grub
• exert
• travail
• moil
• put out

Synonym Chooser

How is the word dawdle different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of dawdle are dally, delay, lag, loiter, and procrastinate. While all these words mean "to move or act slowly so as to fall behind," 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

Where would dally be a reasonable alternative to dawdle?

The words dally and dawdle can be used in similar contexts, but dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.

stop dallying and get to work

When might delay be a better fit than dawdle?

The meanings of delay and dawdle largely overlap; however, delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).

we cannot delay any longer

In what contexts can lag take the place of dawdle?

While in some cases nearly identical to dawdle, lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.

lagging behind in technology

When is procrastinate a more appropriate choice than dawdle?

The synonyms procrastinate and dawdle are sometimes interchangeable, but procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

procrastinates about making decisions

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dawdle

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