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).
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.
to get along; travel; proceed.
Let the world wag how it will.
to totter or sway.
British Slang. to play truant; play hooky.
the act of wagging.
a friendly wag of the tail.
a person given to droll, roguish, or mischievous humor; wit.
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 )
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English waggen, from Old Norse vaga “to sway,” or from vagga “cradle”
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."
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Similar funds are also booming in the more-diversified U.S., but they aren’t big enough yet for the leveraged fund tail to wag the market dog.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
“Obsession” has ideas about our age of instant gratification and parasocial idealization fueled by social media that the film never manages to do anything more than wag a finger at.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 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
This would certainly give them something to wag their tongues over.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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
But to do that, she knew she had to shed her other personas – the Spice Girl, the WAG.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2025
The wives and girlfriends of soccer players — commonly known in Britain by the acronym WAG — have long been tabloid fodder, and the trial offered a rare glimpse into their private messages.
From New York Times ● Oct. 4, 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
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 Lang, Andrew
From there, Schwarzenegger returned to London where he trained under Charles "Wag" Bennett, who had been another of the judges at the Mr Universe competition.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
Wag will pay $150,000 in civil penalties and fines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025
One row lower, you’ll find that this prime real estate goes to two more brands—Purina and Blue Buffalo—next to Amazon’s own, called Wag.
From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2023
You’ll also receive a complimentary month of Wag!
From New York Times ● May 15, 2023
W. Haines, Wag Harding, and W. East, at his best, are perhaps the only exceptions I know to this rule.
From Rowing by Lehmann, Rudolf Chambers
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
Boomer wags his way into the kitchen, and I stroke his head as I eat.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Trusty wagged a finger and sprinted to celebrate with the U.S. bench.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 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
Dipper met every kind of famous person, Stewart said, including presidents and kings, which means he very well might have wagged his tail in Biden’s presence back when he was Barack Obama’s veep.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2024
LeBron James’ tongue wagged after he glided from right to left to bank in a runner off one foot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
Weakly, the cub wagged his tail to fend off an attack.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
"Often when we were walking, she was wagging her tail, happy to see other dogs, but people would tend to cross the road," Fiona said.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
“When he takes my sister to work, Jameson is in the car, wagging his tongue.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
In a sense, it is like the tail wagging the dog.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
He played doubles with Emma Raducanu at last year's US Open, setting tongues wagging, but the British player has insisted they are "just good friends".
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
Moose chomped down the bagel, wagging his tail.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
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.
