dally

verb

ˈda-lē How to pronounce dally (audio)
Definition of dallynext
1
as in to play
to engage in activity for amusement he spent his college years dallying, seemingly determined to acquire as little knowledge as possible

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to linger
to move or act slowly don't dally on the way to the interview

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to flirt
to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun she spent the summer dallying with a guy renting the neighboring beach house

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4
as in to lazy
to spend time doing nothing I kept dallying at my desk until I couldn't put off doing my work any longer

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of dally are dawdle, delay, lag, loiter, and procrastinate. While all these words mean "to move or act slowly so as to fall behind," dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.

stop dallying and get to work

When would delay be a good substitute for dally?

While in some cases nearly identical to dally, delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).

we cannot delay any longer

Where would lag be a reasonable alternative to dally?

Although the words lag and dally have much in common, lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.

lagging behind in technology

How do loiter and dawdle relate to one another, in the sense of dally?

Both 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

When can procrastinate be used instead of dally?

While the synonyms procrastinate and dally are close in meaning, 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 dally While deleterious when recurring over the course of a lifetime, dilly-dallying can kill even quicker on a basketball court. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 27 Feb. 2025 Arsenal need only look at title rivals Liverpool to see the dangers of dallying. —James McNicholas, The Athletic, 19 Feb. 2025 The Dodgers were dallying in Scott's trade market ahead of the 2024 trade deadline before he was sent to the San Diego Padres along with reliever Bryan Hoeing for four minor league players. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 9 Feb. 2025 There is a decision to be made — and after two years of dilly-dallying, it can’t be delayed any longer. —Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 1 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dally
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dally
  1. play
  2. linger
  3. flirt
  4. delay
  5. dawdle
  6. drag
  7. idle
  8. crawl
Verb
  • That was the game Towns played.
    — C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Mia Arguelles, who typically plays midfielder, filled in at goalkeeper due to injuries and made two saves for Andrew (7-6-1, 3-2).
    — Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Definition of play
Verb
  • While coverage is expected to be more scattered, isolated strong to severe storms could still produce hail and gusty winds, particularly where daytime heating and lingering boundaries overlap.
    — Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
  • The two men dined at a table alone, lingering long after all other diners had dispersed.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
Definition of linger
Verb
  • The 30-year Treasury bond also flirted with a 5% yield in late March, when stocks were hitting their lows from the war in the Middle East and yields were hitting their highs amid inflation concerns driven by higher oil prices.
    — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 1 May 2026
  • Rudy Gobert flirted with a triple-double, tallying 10 points, 13 rebounds and a stunning eight assists.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 1 May 2026
Definition of flirt
Verb
  • The fight, though, kept getting delayed.
    — Chang-rae Lee, New Yorker, 3 May 2026
  • Plans were reportedly delayed after Kate’s cancer diagnosis in 2024, but with her now in remission and feeling better, a tour is once again on the table.
    — Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 2 May 2026
Definition of delay
Verb
  • 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
Definition of dawdle
Verb
  • As the Iran war drags on, concerns over rising gas prices and other costs have ballooned, sending consumer sentiment plummeting.
    — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 30 Apr. 2026
  • But now, in a last-ditch attempt to save the whale, a team has loaded Timmy onto a specialized barge to essentially drag it to the North Sea.
    — K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 30 Apr. 2026
Definition of drag
Verb
  • And engineers have learned how to idle wells without lasting damage and restart them quickly, officials say, after years of sanctions and shutdowns pushed the country’s oil industry through cycles of disruption.
    — Anthony Di Paola, Fortune, 2 May 2026
  • Uneven job growth The Fed is also keeping an eye on the labor market, which has idled amid economic uncertainty, uneven payroll gains and the emergence of artificial intelligence.
    — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 29 Apr. 2026
Definition of idle
Verb
  • However, during one segment of the performance, a snake reportedly bit the German tourist after crawling into his clothing.
    — Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Wages for hourly employees have crawled, while the paychecks of investors and executives have soared.
    — Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
Definition of crawl

Browse Nearby Words

dallies
dally
dallying
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Cite this Entry

“Dally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dally. Accessed 5 May. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of dally for Spanish Speakers

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