1
as in to delay
to move or act slowly
don't dillydally on the way to the store
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to lazy
to spend time doing nothing
restaurant employees who, during the slow periods, would rather be doing something instead of just dillydallying
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dillydally
There was the tapping of the top of the bat to his toes, scribbling in the dirt, adjusting his gloves and swiping his shoulder, among other displays of dillydallying.
—
Anna Brand, CNN, 30 Mar. 2023
Bathroom breaks and other excuses for dillydallying give your heart rate a chance to return to normal.
—Elizabeth Narins, Cosmopolitan, 22 May 2015
Anna Brand, CNN, 30 Mar. 2023
Bathroom breaks and other excuses for dillydallying give your heart rate a chance to return to normal.
—Elizabeth Narins, Cosmopolitan, 22 May 2015
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dillydally
Verb
-
Silver firmly stated that the investigation and its findings were not purposely delayed while the Clippers host this All-Star weekend.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Officials from those agencies warned lawmakers that the lapse in funding will leave thousands of personnel working without pay, disrupt disaster reimbursements, delay cyber protections and more.—
Justin Gomez,
ABC News,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Experts point to restricted access to advanced chips and limited capital as lingering constraints.—
John Liu,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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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
Verb
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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
Verb
-
Demanding papers, dragging away dissenters.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
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Slave catchers could capture them, kidnap them and drag them back South.—
Jesse Wright,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Then Jason and Thor shower together, each lathering the other’s back and bums up with fewer orgasms than an old Herbal Essences commercial.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
4 Feb. 2026
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Rittenhouse admits to initially being bummed out to not be the murderer, only to quickly come around to preferring this outcome.—
Derek Lawrence,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Kimmel wasn’t the only late-night host to poke fun at TPUSA’s counter-program, born out of MAGA’s outcry over Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny headlining the Super Bowl halftime show.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
10 Feb. 2026
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The Americans, meanwhile, stayed on their best, most humble behavior afterward, trying not to poke the wounded bear.—
Kevin Baxter,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The chopper flew upwards, up beyond the treeline, stopping to idle between the small ragged peak of one mountain and the rocky face of another.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
8 Feb. 2026
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In February 2023, Stellantis idled the assembly plant near Rockford and laid off its last 1,200 workers after halting production of the Cherokee amid dwindling sales.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Maybe the girl had crawled under a neighbor's trailer while playing hide-and-seek.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
5 Feb. 2026
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Well, there was a great deal left in me, in an agony of embarrassment looking around for that hole on the floor to crawl into.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dillydally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dillydally. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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