Synonyms of falling behind

falling behind

phrase

present participle of fall behind

as in delaying

to move or act slowly

He lost his footing and fell behind in the relay.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of falling behind

Then in the third quarter, on the Patriots’ first play from scrimmage after falling behind 21-3, Maye had a pass intercepted by Jacksonville’s Jarrian Jones. — Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026

In the race to bring AI to the enterprise, Microsoft has been criticized for falling behind Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT, so Friday's exuberant market reaction is notable. — Matthew J. Belvedere,kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026

And yet when Winston took over for Dart in Monday’s first quarter, and as the Giants’ offense floundered while falling behind big, Beckham was nailed to the bench. — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026

After falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, the Falcons (1-2) scored 27 unanswered points and led by at least two possessions for the entire final quarter. — Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Indiana seemingly followed suit on Thursday after falling behind by 30 in the third quarter, limiting Clark's floor time and seeing Sophie Cunningham held scoreless across 16 minutes. — Alejandro Avila Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026

After a season-opening dud at Kansas City in which Waddle and Coleman struggled, the duo came up big as the Broncos powered past Trevor Lawrence the Jaguars after falling behind 13-3 early in the third quarter. — ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026

On a point scale of 1,000, KCI received a 692, only falling behind Tampa International Airport, Portland International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport in the large airport category. — Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026

When the new borrowing is secured against your home, missing payments can have more serious consequences than falling behind on unsecured credit card debt. — Craig Lebrau, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026