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:
As Californians dawdle about casting ballots before Tuesday’s primary, the leading candidates hoping to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom crisscrossed the state making their closing arguments to voters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
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
Allison said it’s important for investigators not to dawdle.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2023
A bouncy strut, a dart-and-weave, a dawdle with a dog.
From New York Times ● Sep. 24, 2023
Along with waiting for him and waiting for some way to get a new fan belt, he had a legitimate reason to dawdle.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
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
Weyman’s cloak-and-rapier swashbuckler is long — over 400 pages in my edition — but its action never dawdles.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2021
Fortunately, there is plenty of music to divert us when the dialogue dawdles.
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2016
The diplomats still squabble; the chess game dawdles its languid way; the factory is getting ready to pay its first dividend; our friends' children are about to enter the high school.
From The Westerners by Stewart Edward White
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
In France's tournament opener, after their heavy brigade had bashed away at a stubborn Wales defence for 12 phases, Dupont picked up the ball and dawdled sideways and backwards off the back of the breakdown.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2025
Students dawdled in their first period classes with cameras off, waiting for teachers who had not been able to log in.
From New York Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
When the horses eventually broke from the gate, Zenyatta, as usual, dawdled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2023
“Why have you dawdled so long before paying us a visit?”
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
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
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
Wearing an electric blue jacket emblazoned with the words “Tell Your Dog I Said Hi,” she crouches low to film a dawdling old pug named Jojo with her iPhone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
As we came off, you were moving at the dawdling speed of a small child.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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.
