DAWDLE Synonyms: 144 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How is the word 'dawdle' different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of dawdle are dally , delay , lag , loiter , and procrastinate . While all these words mean "to move or act slowly so as to fall behind," loiter and dawdle imply delay while in progress, especially in walking, but dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time. // loitered at several store windows // children dawdling on their way home from school

Q: Where would 'dally' be a reasonable alternative to 'dawdle'?

The words dally and dawdle can be used in similar contexts, but dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary. // stop dallying and get to work

Q: When might 'delay' be a better fit than 'dawdle'?

The meanings of delay and dawdle largely overlap; however, delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure). // we cannot delay any longer

Q: In what contexts can 'lag' take the place of 'dawdle'?

While in some cases nearly identical to dawdle , lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others. // lagging behind in technology

Q: When is 'procrastinate' a more appropriate choice than 'dawdle'?

The synonyms procrastinate and dawdle are sometimes interchangeable, but procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy. // procrastinates about making decisions

dawdle

verb

ˈdȯ-dᵊl

Definition of dawdle

as in to delay

to move or act slowly if you continue to dawdle, we'll be late for sure

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to lazy

to spend time doing nothing accused the city council of dawdling even as the crime rate was spiraling out of control

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How is the word dawdle different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of dawdle are dally, delay, lag, loiter, and procrastinate. While all these words mean "to move or act slowly so as to fall behind," loiter and dawdle imply delay while in progress, especially in walking, but dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time.

loitered at several store windows

children dawdling on their way home from school

Where would dally be a reasonable alternative to dawdle?

The words dally and dawdle can be used in similar contexts, but dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.

stop dallying and get to work

When might delay be a better fit than dawdle?

The meanings of delay and dawdle largely overlap; however, delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).

we cannot delay any longer

In what contexts can lag take the place of dawdle?

While in some cases nearly identical to dawdle, lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.

lagging behind in technology

When is procrastinate a more appropriate choice than dawdle?

The synonyms procrastinate and dawdle are sometimes interchangeable, but procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

procrastinates about making decisions

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 dawdle But Koreeda dawdles over all that without ever finding much dramatic nuance, making for a dullish midsection. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026 Patriots owner Robert Kraft didn’t dawdle last winter after the Patriots went 4-13 with Maye as their main QB. — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Jan. 2026 Flight attendants turned into drill sergeants, barking at passengers who flouted mask rules or dawdled too long eating that snack with the mask off. — Thomas Black, Twin Cities, 21 Dec. 2025 My request to ownership is don’t dawdle. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 19 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dawdle

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dawdle

Verb

More than 350 flights were canceled or delayed at Moscow airports, local media reported, as planes were grounded in response to incoming drones.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
Green denied that characterization and declined to elaborate on the challenges that delayed the delivery beyond the missing money.

— Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of delay

Verb

Companies across the industry have been idling facilities, with Suntory pausing production at one of Jim Beamâ€™s three Kentucky distilleries to upgrade the site while demand is low.

— Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Others idled at the edge of the firelight while the red lights of a surveillance blimp blinked over the mountains to the east.

— Ryan Devereaux, ProPublica, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of idle

Verb

Christmas decorations linger into summer, and grasses grow high through rusting cars.

— Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026
The orchard and cidery serves pizzas and pastas alongside hot or cold cider, and hosts live music as folks linger along the outdoor tables with drinks and games.

— Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of linger

Verb

The colony also has a population of New Zealand fur seals that laze around the rocks frequented by flocks of seabirds.

— Todd Symons, CNN Money, 22 July 2026
The pigs that would soon enough become lunch lazed in the compost-pile mud in front of a five-star-hotel-worthy view of the Cretan Sea.

— Shannon McMahon, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 July 2026

Definition of laze

Verb

In May 2025, after Williams shut off the water in a cell, 10 inmates removed a toilet, crawled through a gap in the wall and scaled a fence out of the jail.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
At the hospital, an insect fell from the girl’s shoe, and a staffer saw a cockroach crawling on her, the district attorney’s office said.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of crawl

Verb

Season 2 picks up from where things left off, with Michael and Diana having barely arrived in Spain when they are dragged back into the fold to answer questions around Ricardo’s death.

— Max Goldbart, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2026
Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s spokesman denied Britain was being dragged in to the conflict.

— Jill Lawless, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of drag

Verb

The joy Lisa has with her RHUGT cast compared with the dread her RHOSLC cast seems to bring her really bums me out — especially because of how much of this trip is championing the sisterhood of Housewives.

— Tom Smyth, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026
My conversation partner returned, somehow unable to bum even a single cigarette from anyone at this party.

— Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 29 July 2026

Definition of bum

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“Dawdle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dawdle. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of dawdle

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