dawdle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
dawdles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dawdled,
past participle, past
-
dawdling
present participle
-
to waste time; idle; trifle; loiter.
Stop dawdling and help me with these packages!
-
to move slowly, languidly, or dilatorily; saunter.
verb (used with object)
-
dawdles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dawdled,
past participle, past
-
dawdling
present participle
verb
-
(intr) to be slow or lag behind
-
to waste (time); trifle
Synonym Usage
See loiter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dawdlesimple
-
dawdlessimple
-
have dawdledperfect
-
has dawdledperfect
-
am dawdlingprogressive
-
are dawdlingprogressive
-
is dawdlingprogressive
-
have been dawdlingperfect progressive
-
has been dawdlingperfect progressive
Past
-
dawdledsimple
-
had dawdledperfect
-
was dawdlingprogressive
-
were dawdlingprogressive
-
had been dawdlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dawdle
First recorded in 1650–60; variant of daddle “to toddle”
Explanation
There are lots of words that mean to move slowly. The point of dawdle is that one is moving too slowly, is falling behind, or is not properly focused on making progress. One way to remember the meaning of dawdle is that it rhymes with "waddle," as in, "a duck waddles." Imagine what would happen if you waddled instead of walked. It would take a lot more time, and your companion might say, "Don't dawdle!" Dawdle implies not only taking extra time but actually wasting it. A leisurely walk in the woods is one thing, but if you have to get to the theater on time, don't dawdle along the way: you'll miss the curtain!
Vocabulary lists containing dawdle
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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Touching Spirit Bear
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Languor Management: Synonyms for "Lazy"
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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:
She has set a six-minute daily time limit as a reminder not to dawdle on Instagram.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
While these cities dawdle, the region’s residents suffer the effects of the housing shortage: high rents, overcrowding, eviction and homelessness.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2024
If a few passengers dawdle while stowing their bag and finding their seat, it can make the difference between a flight being on time or late in the government’s official statistics.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 19, 2023
A bouncy strut, a dart-and-weave, a dawdle with a dog.
From New York Times ● Sep. 24, 2023
I had no idea how fast Sputnik would be, whether it would zip along or dawdle.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
If Minnesota dawdles, it “will rack up $1 billion of deferred payments this year,” the CMS head said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
It is the role of prosecutors to vindicate that interest by initiating judicial action when a defendant dawdles.
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2024
And yet, he almost takes pride in his ability to put things off, saying he dawdles on an “Olympic level.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
Many of Dellario’s gently impressionistic pictures depict Rock Creek as it dawdles through and around large, glistening rocks.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2022
Meantime the poor present age works, and deceives, and dawdles, hoping to be dismissed with the absolving edict, "She hath done what she could."
From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Julia Ward Howe
Later, at Brasserie de Monaco, the principality’s craft beer brewery, I dawdled over a pint of Blonde de Monaco and fell into conversation with Nils, a Danish skipper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026
Not yet knowing what I was in for, though, I dawdled, thinking the journey too far and impractical, until I finally relented about 20 hours before totality over Idaho.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2024
When No. 23 WSU hosts Northern Colorado this weekend, though, the Cougars will get a chance to sharpen the one part of their offense that has dawdled: The run game.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
Vince and Conway were able to re-find the highest gear, helped by an Originals side that dawdled through their 100 balls.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2023
On Monday, she sent the children to school and dawdled at home until Mia arrived to clean.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Cut a dawdling fight scene here and an interminable escape scene there, and the film would make a delightful in-universe companion to precede next summer’s “Superman” sequel, “Man of Tomorrow.”
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
Like, just in case someone’s dawdling, or being careless about where they’re dumping snow.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
Then again, all the bickering, dawdling, and reliably self-preserving ignorance toward the catastrophe nipping at their heels is the point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 18, 2024
They try to take advantage of Anna Patten dawdling at the byeline as she's dispossessed by Martina Piemonte, but the rest of the Villa defence get back to ensure she can't move towards goal.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2024
When Mister Leefolt dawdling around the dining room, I peek in and see Mae Mobley got a paper in her hand, teaching Ross something new.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
