linger

verb

ˈliŋ-gər How to pronounce linger (audio)
Definition of lingernext
as in to delay
to move or act slowly since they were charging by the hour, the house painters lingered in finishing up their work

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of linger Still, as the audience streamed out of the concert courtyard, earlier words from Finom lingered. — Katherine Turman, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2026 High temperatures and wind gusts are expected to linger across the southeastern parts of the province and the Okanagan region on Sunday. — Chandelis Duster, NPR, 9 Aug. 2026 Signs of cooling hostilities between Washington and Tehran have boosted sentiment, although concerns linger about a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. — Sagarika Jaisinghani, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2026 The common spaces are places to linger, from the yellow parlor room to the quiet library. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for linger
Recent Examples of Synonyms for linger
  1. delay
  2. drag
  3. crawl
  4. poke
  5. loiter
  6. stroll
Verb
  • Conditions that are too cold might delay proofing or rising, resulting in a super-dense loaf.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Cellphone use before bed delays the natural drop in cortisol that teenagers need to fall asleep, according to Alice Hoagland, PhD, director of the Insomnia Clinic at the Rochester Regional Sleep Disorder Center.
    — Samantha Agate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of delay
Verb
  • The complainant, who was not identified in the initial case report, said Celeste was attacked by a dog and dragged through the woods.
    — Rafael Escalera Montoto, Arkansas Online, 5 Aug. 2026
  • In March, as the criminal investigation dragged on and many wondered if Burke would ever face charges, Jane, the girl who frequently messaged with Burke before Rivas Hernandez, dreamt about him on his birthday.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of drag
Verb
  • Past that, Xbox has to figure out how to crawl out of the hole that is its console market, which has cratered in recent years.
    — Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The feat, says study coauthor and NSO senior scientist Friedrich Wöger, is equivalent to seeing ants crawling on Earth’s surface from an altitude of 100 miles (about 160 km).
    — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawl
Verb
  • At first glance, corals present as little more than colorful rocks — piles of lobes, stalagmites, and branches poking out from the seafloor.
    — Marlowe Starling, Quanta Magazine, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Even in the bathrooms, the toilet and bidet are concealed inside a kind of Travertine bench and the showerhead pokes out from a monolithic stone slab.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of poke
Verb
  • According to Metro officials, the transit has seen a nearly 60% drop in homeless people loitering over the past two years.
    — Tom Wait, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The rocket body has been loitering lazily high above Earth for more than 18 months.
    — Mike Wall, Space.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of loiter
Verb
  • New this year, for the first weekend of the fair, a strolling piano — a performer riding around a moving piano playing and singing — will be moving throughout the fair, Casey said.
    — Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Construction fences and barriers are mostly gone, traffic is flowing, pedestrians are strolling and a dozen new businesses have opened along the corridor, with several more on the way.
    — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of stroll

Browse Nearby Words

line up
linger
lingered
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Linger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/linger. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on linger

Nglish: Translation of linger for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All