dawdled; dawdling
ˈdȯ-dliŋ 
-dᵊl-iŋ
1
: to spend time idly
… dawdled about in the vestibule …—
Jane Austen
Jane Austen2
: to move lackadaisically
"I don't want you dawdling while you making deliveries for Mrs. Ford."—Connie Porter
Connie Porter
: to spend fruitlessly or lackadaisically
dawdled the day away
Examples of dawdle in a Sentence
Hurry up! There's no time to dawdle.
Come home immediately after school, and don't dawdle.
Recent Examples on the Web
My request to ownership is don’t dawdle.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 19 Oct. 2025
Ticket availability is scant as of this writing, don’t dawdle (with Jon Muq.
—Aaron Davis, Sacbee.com, 6 Oct. 2025
Is there some reason to postpone or dawdle on aiming for better for Milwaukee kids?
—Alan J. Borsuk, jsonline.com, 26 Sep. 2025
Fava snuffled and dawdled and took her own sweet time up the sidewalk.
—Dan Kois, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dawdle
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Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 19 Oct. 2025
Ticket availability is scant as of this writing, don’t dawdle (with Jon Muq.
—Aaron Davis, Sacbee.com, 6 Oct. 2025
Is there some reason to postpone or dawdle on aiming for better for Milwaukee kids?
—Alan J. Borsuk, jsonline.com, 26 Sep. 2025
Fava snuffled and dawdled and took her own sweet time up the sidewalk.
—Dan Kois, New Yorker, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dawdle
Cite this Entry
“Dawdle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dawdle. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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