as in delayed
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 lingered
Back in the Mexico City bar, as the game resumed and fans turned their attention back to the field, the excitement lingered.
—
Martin Silva Rey, Fortune, 10 Feb. 2026
The emotions of Sunday's downhill race lingered over Tuesday's competition.
—Becky Sullivan, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
The snowfall arrived before Copenhagen Fashion Week did, and the bitter cold lingered well into the schedule.
—Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 10 Feb. 2026
Without intending, even as the Vietnam War lingered on and the national mood was grim, halftime became classic Americana, a telling mixture of self-parody and pride.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
Most locations received a coating to 1 inch, but for eastern Long Island, where the snow lingered into the evening, 4-7 inches fell.
—Matthew Villafane, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026
Then in quick succession, a storm dumped a blanket of snow over the Southeast that lingered for days as temperatures plunged again.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 7 Feb. 2026
Others, including Queen Latifah, lingered for a chat.
—Eve Batey, Vanity Fair, 7 Feb. 2026
Days of solitude lay ahead of him, questions lingered behind.
—Andrew Callahan, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2026
Martin Silva Rey, Fortune, 10 Feb. 2026
The emotions of Sunday's downhill race lingered over Tuesday's competition.
—Becky Sullivan, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
The snowfall arrived before Copenhagen Fashion Week did, and the bitter cold lingered well into the schedule.
—Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 10 Feb. 2026
Without intending, even as the Vietnam War lingered on and the national mood was grim, halftime became classic Americana, a telling mixture of self-parody and pride.
—Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
Most locations received a coating to 1 inch, but for eastern Long Island, where the snow lingered into the evening, 4-7 inches fell.
—Matthew Villafane, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026
Then in quick succession, a storm dumped a blanket of snow over the Southeast that lingered for days as temperatures plunged again.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 7 Feb. 2026
Others, including Queen Latifah, lingered for a chat.
—Eve Batey, Vanity Fair, 7 Feb. 2026
Days of solitude lay ahead of him, questions lingered behind.
—Andrew Callahan, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lingered
Verb
-
Votes in the House were delayed from Tuesday afternoon to the evening as leadership sought to convince nearly half a dozen GOP holdouts to vote for the measure.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Feb. 2026
-
So with official jobs data due out on Wednesday, delayed by several days because of the brief partial government shutdown, analysts say stocks could go even lower on bad news — or even on news that looks too good.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Upstairs, behind a locked door, the force dragged the town into infamy.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Although the largest companies can absorb a drop in valuations, other AI companies have been dragged along by the hype, especially in the private markets.—
Mikael Johnsson,
Fortune,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The sports journalist, who split from Kelce in 2022, joined forces with Tiffany Haddish, Ben Simmons, and Offset in a Sleeper commercial that poked fun at the aftermath of calling it quits in the spotlight.—
Lara Walsh,
InStyle,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Altman and other senior executives took to social media to respond to swipes from Anthropic, which ran Super Bowl ads that poked fun at OpenAI's decision to run ads within ChatGPT.—
Ashley Capoot,Kate Rooney,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
One live roach crawled on the floor in front of a storage rack with seasoning and cans.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Maybe the girl had crawled under a neighbor's trailer while playing hide-and-seek.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Mike Dvorak returned to play the accordion and strolled the event premises while singing about the Cocoa Crawl.—
Karie Angell Luc,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
-
The College was also spotted in episodes 7 and 8 when members of the Ton strolled through the Grand Square and surrounding areas.—
Kayla Keegan,
PEOPLE,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
At the start of that brief official visit, his first, five military-grade drones loitered dangerously near Dublin Airport’s busiest civilian flight paths unopposed.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
30 Dec. 2025
-
The hotel is a short walk from the Jericho Tavern, where Radiohead played its first gig, in 1986, and around the corner from a now shuttered HMV, in whose aisles Donwood and Yorke once loitered, scouting the competition.—
Zoe Si,
New Yorker,
19 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
And the warmer temperatures have crept into February.—
Paris Barraza,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
-
The Leafs game did lag late, as sloppiness crept in before Bobby McMann sealed the win with an empty net goal.—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lingered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lingered. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
