dawdle

American  

[dawd-l] / ˈdɔd l /

verb (used without object)

• dawdles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dawdled,
  past participle,  past
• dawdling
  present participle

1. 

   to waste time; idle; trifle; loiter.

   Stop dawdling and help me with these packages!

2. to move slowly, languidly, or dilatorily; saunter.

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verb (used with object)

• dawdles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dawdled,
  past participle,  past
• dawdling
  present participle

1. to waste (time) by or as if by trifling (usually followed byaway ).

   He dawdled away the whole morning.

   Synonyms:

   trifle, idle, putter, fritter

dawdle British  

/ ˈdɔːdəl /

verb

1. (intr) to be slow or lag behind

2. to waste (time); trifle

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Synonym Usage

See loiter.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dawdler
  noun
• dawdlingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• dawdling
  present
• dawdled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dawdle
  simple
• dawdles
  simple
• have dawdled
  perfect
• has dawdled
  perfect
• am dawdling
  progressive
• are dawdling
  progressive
• is dawdling
  progressive
• have been dawdling
  perfect progressive
• has been dawdling
  perfect progressive

Past

• dawdled
  simple
• had dawdled
  perfect
• was dawdling
  progressive
• were dawdling
  progressive
• had been dawdling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dawdle
  simple
• will have dawdled
  perfect
• will be dawdling
  progressive
• will have been dawdling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of dawdle

First recorded in 1650–60; variant of daddle “to toddle”

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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!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dawdle dawdles dawdled dawdling

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

And while there's still a need for a similarly big player to volumize Kernza sales, smaller companies can keep farmers growing the crop while consumer packaged goods companies dawdle on the sidelines.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023

Don’t dawdle: White’s got the second album, “Entering Heaven Alive,” set for release on July 22.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2022

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

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

But “Ride the Cyclone” never dawdles on such poignancy — in fact, it scrupulously avoids it.

From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2016

The student who dawdles when he should be working, will be sure to fail when the examination comes on.

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Second Kings Chapters VIII to End and Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Esther, Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes by Alexander Maclaren

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

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

Called for a single by Foakes, Stokes dawdled and was beaten by a direct hit from Shreyas at mid-wicket.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2024

When the horses eventually broke from the gate, Zenyatta, as usual, dawdled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2023

So he dawdled until he came to the picket fence, and every day Mrs. Cobb was standing at the door waiting for him, scowling and sour.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

"The film has a few scattered giggles, but it's dawdling and cumbersome, and far less 'relevant' than it thinks," read a review from the Hollywood trade publication Variety.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026

I hastened my step to my car, not dawdling for a second to check messages once planted in the driver’s seat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

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

‘Not he! When his tools have done their task he drops them. But you must go dangling after him, dawdling and talking, and riding round twice as far as you needed. “

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Related Words

• laze
• loiter
• mosey
• procrastinate
• saunter

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