as in lingered
to move or act slowly
don't loiter in this neighborhood after dark
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Recent Examples of loitered
Other executives, coaches and support staff loitered in the hall, speaking in hushed tones if at all.
—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
1 May 2026
In the petition filing, Buckingham wrote that Dick had loitered around his and his family members’ homes, called repeatedly and left threatening voicemails, and taped a photo collage of herself and Buckingham to his mailbox.
—
Senior Television,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2026
Stella crossed the street and loitered outside the store window displaying haughty mannequins flaunting swagger coats.
—
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
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
The drones also loitered above an Irish Navy vessel that had secretly deployed for Zelensky's visit.
—
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Dec. 2025
There, the crop continued to grow while white-faced ibis and killdeer birds loitered around the water.
—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
1 May 2026
In the petition filing, Buckingham wrote that Dick had loitered around his and his family members’ homes, called repeatedly and left threatening voicemails, and taped a photo collage of herself and Buckingham to his mailbox.
—
Senior Television,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2026
Stella crossed the street and loitered outside the store window displaying haughty mannequins flaunting swagger coats.
—
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
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
The drones also loitered above an Irish Navy vessel that had secretly deployed for Zelensky's visit.
—
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Dec. 2025
There, the crop continued to grow while white-faced ibis and killdeer birds loitered around the water.
—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for loitered
Verb
-
Yet, the same themes of access and power have lingered around the presidency in the eight decades since.
-
The claim that creatine causes hair loss has lingered since 2009, shaping decisions for gym-goers and athletes weighing whether to add it to their routine.
Verb
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The theory here is that avarice and ambition can best be defeated by means of somebody else’s avarice and ambition; power’s inevitable corrupting effect is thereby mitigated or delayed.
-
Automatic contributions, delayed payment windows, small rituals that add friction to impulse spending — these are all behavioral architecture moves, not acts of self-denial.
Verb
-
But as the crisis dragged on over six days and pressure from the families of the hostages grew, Israeli leaders gradually became more open to talks, according to a summary of the files released by the Israel State Archives.
-
Around Christmas 2024 the Estlink 2 cable between Finland and Estonia went down after a shadow-fleet tanker, the Eagle S, dragged its anchor across the seabed.
Verb
-
Street sweepers and garbage trucks crawled through roads fans had packed hours earlier.
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Last December, a rat appeared from the overhead bins and crawled behind a curtain in the cabin while a flight was en route from Amsterdam to Aruba, according to previous reporting from USA TODAY.
Verb
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Griffin also poked at the cohosts in the immediate aftermath of Hasselbeck and former View moderator Rosie O'Donnell's legendary on-air fight in 2007, as Griffin was a guest host the following day and brought up the incident numerous times — which annoyed Walters in the moment.
-
Late in the third, the Knights seemed to retake the lead after Pavel Dorofeyev poked home a loose puck.
Verb
-
To my surprise, Conway showed up, walking Clyde; Bores strolled past me in a dark suit.
-
Others strolled barefoot through the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, named after a courageous man who fought for freedom, not for presidents.
Cite this Entry
“Loitered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/loitered. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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