1
as in to delay
to move or act slowly
if you continue to dawdle, we'll be late for sure
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
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
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Recent Examples of dawdle
Instead, season three of The White Lotus dawdles too long, trying to save too much of the good stuff for the end.
—
Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2025
Past Republican presidents were content to dawdle on tax cuts and entitlement reform, but Trump, understanding that the values of America are communicated through its art and entertainment, has instead sought to impose his fairly common and generally decent tastes on popular culture.
—Peter Tonguette, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025
Players dawdled on the ball in key moments, hesitant to make mistakes.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Skelly secured the Obama Administration’s commitment to buy his energy, but in the course of a decade the project slowly collapsed, as state powers dawdled and eventually refused to issue the necessary permits.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dawdle
Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2025
Past Republican presidents were content to dawdle on tax cuts and entitlement reform, but Trump, understanding that the values of America are communicated through its art and entertainment, has instead sought to impose his fairly common and generally decent tastes on popular culture.
—Peter Tonguette, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025
Players dawdled on the ball in key moments, hesitant to make mistakes.
—Carl Anka, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Skelly secured the Obama Administration’s commitment to buy his energy, but in the course of a decade the project slowly collapsed, as state powers dawdled and eventually refused to issue the necessary permits.
—Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dawdle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dawdle
Verb
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To understand why, consider what businesses stand to lose by delaying automation.—
Laurent Charpentier,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
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No rain should delay either the sprint race or qualifying, but race day is a different story.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
Verb
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Indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha ended in deadlock last week with the sides trading blame for the impasse and gaps lingering over issues including the extent of an Israeli military withdrawal.—
Maayan Lubell,
USA Today,
1 Aug. 2025
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The case lingered unsolved for more than five years before Allen, who worked at the local pharmacy, was arrested and charged with murder.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
1 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Shelling, also known as beachcombing, is strolling along the seashore in search of seashells.—
Gabi De la Rosa,
Southern Living,
24 July 2025
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Outside of the spa, stroll the Lichtentaler Allee, a famous park dotted with sculptures, rose gardens, and Belle Époque architecture.—
Sofia Markovich,
Travel + Leisure,
24 July 2025
Verb
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Silver floral detailing crawled along the right hip of the gown and the left side of Lohan’s midsection.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
31 July 2025
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Ever since Google emerged as the home page of the Web in the early 2000s, media outlets operated under the assumption that Google would reliably crawl their sites and send audience their way.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
31 July 2025
Verb
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On air quality alert days, the Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency recommends several ways community members can help reduce ozone formation, including taking the bus or biking instead of driving, not idling vehicles and refueling vehicles after 8 p.m What is the heat index?—
Grace Tucker,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
23 July 2025
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They are also encouraged not to idle in vehicles as exhaust fumes can contribute to air pollution.—
Joe Edwards,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 July 2025
Verb
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Charlie's sudden, grotesque exit becomes the catalyst for the rest of the film, dragging her family down a relentless tailspin of grief (and ancestral demons).—
James Mercadante,
EW.com,
23 July 2025
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Pitmaster Roy Perez ceremoniously dragged a metal tub of hot coals up Commerce Street to transfer the fire from the old pits to the new ones.—
Robert F. Moss,
Southern Living,
23 July 2025
Verb
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These increasingly crazed visitors spend their days lazing on the shore, drinking and eating, carousing with prostitutes, and abusing Rosa (played by B-movie actress Leonora Fani, who would also star in the equally notorious vacation film Giallo in Venice) for their own entertainment.—
Erik Morse,
Vogue,
26 June 2025
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The researchers observed that this particular population of orangutans also build slightly simpler nests for daytime naps, in contrast to other groups which frequently just laze on bare branches.—
Lauren Leffer,
Popular Science,
25 June 2025
Verb
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This review pokes a useful hole in the breathless reception this film received, while managing to feel fond.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
24 July 2025
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The dish is almost a tease, tickling and poking you by showcasing carrots such that here a confident argument is made to herald them in as the pre-eminent salad vegetable.—
Timothy DePeugh,
Charlotte Observer,
23 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dawdle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dawdle. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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