wag
verb (used with object)
to move from side to side, forward and backward, or up and down, especially rapidly and repeatedly.
wag
American
[wag]
/ wæg /
verb (used with object)
-
wags,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wagged,
past participle, past
-
wagging
present participle
-
to move from side to side, forward and backward, or up and down, especially rapidly and repeatedly.
a dog wagging its tail.
-
to move (the tongue), as in idle or indiscreet chatter.
-
to shake (a finger) at someone, as in reproach.
-
to move or nod (the head).
verb (used without object)
-
wags,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wagged,
past participle, past
-
wagging
present participle
-
to be moved from side to side or one way and the other, especially rapidly and repeatedly, as the head or the tail.
-
to move constantly, especially in idle or indiscreet chatter.
Her behavior caused local tongues to wag.
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to get along; travel; proceed.
Let the world wag how it will.
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to totter or sway.
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British Slang. to play truant; play hooky.
noun
-
wags
plural
-
the act of wagging.
a friendly wag of the tail.
-
a person given to droll, roguish, or mischievous humor; wit.
wag
1
British
/ wæɡ /
verb
-
to move or cause to move rapidly and repeatedly from side to side or up and down
-
to move (the tongue) or (of the tongue) to be moved rapidly in talking, esp in idle gossip
-
to move (the finger) or (of the finger) to be moved from side to side, in or as in admonition
-
slang to play truant (esp in the phrase wag it )
noun
WAG
2
British
abbreviation
Wag
3
British
/ wæɡ /
noun
wag
4
British
/ wæɡ /
noun
wag
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wagsimple
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wagssimple
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have waggedperfect
-
has waggedperfect
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am waggingprogressive
-
are waggingprogressive
-
is waggingprogressive
-
have been waggingperfect progressive
-
has been waggingperfect progressive
Past
-
waggedsimple
-
had waggedperfect
-
was waggingprogressive
-
were waggingprogressive
-
had been waggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wag
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English waggen, from Old Norse vaga “to sway,” or from vagga “cradle”
Explanation
A wag is a quick, back-and-forth movement. A scolding teacher might give you an irritated wag of a finger, while a happy dog will give you a cheerful tail wag. Animals and people alike use wags to communicate various emotions, and when they do, they wag. Dogs are known to wag their tails in happiness or to express friendliness, but a very slow tail wag can mean a dog is uncertain or is trying to calm itself. Wag is at least partly rooted in the Old English wagian, "move backwards and forwards."
Vocabulary lists containing wag
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To paraphrase some anonymous wag, never let a cross-cultural calamity go to waste.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
But strict rules also make the financial tail wag the real economy dog.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
You can’t wag your finger at people and say, “You should be going to the theater and having this theatrical experience,” but you feel it rising right now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2025
“I tell clients, ‘Don’t let the tax tail wag the dog.’”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 26, 2025
The tail began to wag, and the hide made little ripples back and forth over the ribs.
From "Sounder" by William H. Armstrong
In the meantime, Biles seems content to embrace a position on the sidelines—both as an NFL WAG and a supporter of gymnastics around the globe.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2025
Because of her sleuthing tactics, Ms. Rooney became known as “Wagatha Christie,” a mash-up of WAG and Agatha Christie, the 20th-century mystery writer.
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2022
The battle has been dubbed the "WAGatha Christie" case, a reference to the "WAG" moniker given to the glamorous group of footballers' wives and girlfriends and Rooney's detective work.
From Reuters ● May 10, 2022
Rebekah Vardy is Coleen Rooney’s rival WAG in this current drama and the wife of Jamie Vardy, who plays in the Premier League and was Wayne Rooney’s teammate on England’s national soccer team.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2019
Some Tory WAG among the Hanging Committee may have taken this juxtaposition for wit: our readers will adopt a different view.
From Old Friends, Epistolary Parody by Andrew Lang
Wag will pay $150,000 in civil penalties and fines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025
You’ll also receive a complimentary month of Wag!
From New York Times ● May 15, 2023
That means Uber is subject to the law while pet-sitting service Wag, which has been called "Uber for dogs," is not.
From Reuters ● Mar. 17, 2023
The Secret Wag, an anonymously-written column in The Sun gossiping about footballers, came up a lot, with Mrs Rooney saying she believed Mrs Vardy had been a source, which she denied.
From BBC ● May 19, 2022
Well, well, wag along happily, my dear Mr and Mrs Wag!
From Tales from Blackwood, Volume 7 by Herbert Willis
Sitting next to Carr, Faith begged to differ, smiling as she wags her finger at the camera.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
Wall Street wags say bigger investment managers will do worse, but Blackstone’s 2025 investment performance was pretty good.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
Instead, he posted “Unconditional Surrender” on Truth Social, without any explanation of what that meant, leading some wags in Washington to hope he had just resigned.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2025
This dual audience for the written word—readers and advertisers—has survived in digital media, and as with silly summer inserts, it’s often the tail of advertising that wags the dog of text.
From Slate ● May 21, 2025
He loves people, greets them with all the tail wags possible, licks their faces.
From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen
After striking Caballero out, Cole wagged his finger at him while walking off the mound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
His efforts seemed to have put his side on course to win, but the Brave tailed wagged to pull off a remarkable victory.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2025
As Palencia came toward the sideline, he wagged his finger as if to say he didn’t make an offensive comment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
The 20-year-old American wound up breaking there with a forehand winner down the line and she wagged her fingers to request louder support from the fans, and they gave it to her.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
His tail wagged, about a 200 on the wpm, or wags per minute, meter.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
A great many dogs run up to me, tails wagging, tongues lolling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
If a leveraged fund grows large enough, it can start to have a significant impact on the underlying stock to which it is tied, a phenomenon traders refer to as “the tail wagging the dog.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
In a sense, it is like the tail wagging the dog.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
Supermodel Heidi Klum got tongues wagging on the red carpet while taking comically short steps in a nude latex dress.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
MacDuff followed him inside, wagging his tail, shaking snow off his fur.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
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