Synonyms of dragging

dragging 1 of 2

adjective

as in leisurely

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

a mysterious, cloaked figure with a strange, dragging walk

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

dragging

2 of 2

verb

present participle of drag

1

as in pulling

to cause to follow by applying steady force on

the deliveryman dragged the barrels over against the wall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pulling
• hauling
• tugging
• towing
• lugging
• drawing
• carrying
• heaving
• attracting
• haling
• yanking
• moving
• jerking
• transporting
• conveying
• ferrying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pushing
• driving
• propelling
• shoving
• thrusting

2

as in delaying

to move or act slowly

one of the climbers was beginning to drag

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

3

as in crawling

to move slowly

the play dragged and seemed to take forever to get to its predictable conclusion

Synonyms & Similar Words

• crawling
• creeping
• shuffling
• poking
• inching
• limping
• slouching
• oozing
• creaking (along)
• snailing
• plodding
• nosing
• trudging
• shambling
• tramping
• lumbering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• flying
• speeding
• racing
• floating
• gliding
• sailing
• whizzing
• zipping
• tearing
• hurrying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dragging

Verb

The untethered AUVs hover above the seabed instead of dragging equipment across it, reducing sediment disturbance and limiting ecosystem disruption. — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 15 July 2026

Centre-back Chadi Riad flicks the outswinging corner across goal, with his team-mates’ runs dragging Haiti’s defence forward. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 14 July 2026

The car overturned at the Top Gear Dunsfold Park Aerodrome, dragging Flintoff face down underneath for about 50 metres and leaving him with severe facial disfigurement injuries, rib injuries and trauma. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 13 July 2026

Israel’s military campaigns have significantly degraded Hezbollah, while public opinion in Lebanon has increasingly turned against the group, blaming it for repeatedly dragging the country into unnecessary wars. — Anthony Wanis-St John, The Conversation, 10 July 2026

The problem with measuring frame dragging using Earth-orbiting satellites is that the Earth is not a perfect sphere. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 10 July 2026

According to Bartolai, the Health Department conducts surveillance work, dragging sheets of fabric through tick habitats and then testing the bugs for various pathogens. — Joseph States, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026

The Vietnam peace talks would completely fall apart by December 1972, dragging the war out until April 1975. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 July 2026

On Tuesday, the roller-coaster ride for AI stocks whipped back down, dragging Wall Street lower. — ABC News, 8 July 2026