1
as in delayed
to move or act slowly
if you continue to dawdle, we'll be late for sure
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lazied
to spend time doing nothing
accused the city council of dawdling even as the crime rate was spiraling out of control
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dawdled
Flight attendants turned into drill sergeants, barking at passengers who flouted mask rules or dawdled too long eating that snack with the mask off.
—
Thomas Black, Twin Cities, 21 Dec. 2025
Fava snuffled and dawdled and took her own sweet time up the sidewalk.
—Dan Kois, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
Thomas Black, Twin Cities, 21 Dec. 2025
Fava snuffled and dawdled and took her own sweet time up the sidewalk.
—Dan Kois, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dawdled
Verb
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Chicago O’Hare issued a ground stop on Tuesday night due to thunderstorms, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, with flight departures delayed an average of 15 minutes and increasing.—
Madeline King,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
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The probe was delayed from 2022, and headed for the asteroid Psyche, using a Mars-gravity assist and not arriving until August 2029.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The bouncy seventh-year center suffered a severe right ankle sprain on the first day of training camp and the pain has lingered for five months, limiting his mobility and effectiveness on both ends of the floor.—
Mike Curtis,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Mar. 2026
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Simons fractured his wrist in training camp with the Boston Celtics, an injury that lingered after briefly sidelining him at the start of the season.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Nearby, people and their dogs who had moved into the shelter for the duration of the war lounged on air mattresses, scrolling through their phones.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
2 Mar. 2026
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Just days after hard-launching her relationship with French filmmaker Romain Gavras, EmRata lounged in a plunging plush white robe while wearing nothing but some sparkling loud luxury accessories.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Instead, much of Iraq rose up to expel US ground forces, and the war dragged on for eight years.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The snake had dragged him roughly 30 feet from where their wrestling match began.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Plaza strolled past paparazzi in an oversized black leather jacket layered over a red minidress.—
Staff Author,
InStyle,
7 Mar. 2026
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As for the living, two roaches strolled on top of an in-use oven and on the side of an oven door in a back prep area.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The animal had crawled into a drain pipe during a cold snap and could not turn around to escape.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
4 Mar. 2026
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As seen on video from the scene, traffic crawled along the expressway as smoke billowed from the cars and firefighters worked to extinguish the fire.—
Asal Rezaei,
CBS News,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Further on, sandy-colored cows lazed in the mid-morning sun.—
Sarah Henry,
AZCentral.com,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
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But researchers who studied crocodiles at an outdoor recreation center near Cape Town appear to have poked a hole in that approach.—
Regina G. Barber,
NPR,
9 Mar. 2026
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Flick’s team persisted after the break, pressing high and eventually finding a third goal when Bernal poked home from a Joao Cancelo cross.—
Laia Cervelló Herrero,
New York Times,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dawdled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dawdled. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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