1
as in to play
to engage in activity for amusement
he spent his college years dallying, seemingly determined to acquire as little knowledge as possible
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to linger
to move or act slowly
don't dally on the way to the interview
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3
as in to flirt
to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun
she spent the summer dallying with a guy renting the neighboring beach house
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4
as in to lazy
to spend time doing nothing
I kept dallying at my desk until I couldn't put off doing my work any longer
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dally
With the ball loose in midfield, Southampton’s Flynn Downes dallied on the halfway line, stuck in two minds over whether to push to win possession or retreat into his own half.
—
Elias Burke, The Athletic, 23 Dec. 2024
As is so often the case for Hong, his latest is a gentle, hypnotically watchable film that breezes by as Iris does herself, dallying around Seoul in a loose summer dress and her striking bright-green cardigan.
—David Opie, IndieWire, 21 Nov. 2024
This is no time for the dilly-dallying dog days of August.
—Tim Britton, The Athletic, 15 Aug. 2024
The Dodgers were dallying in Scott's trade market before he was sent to the San Diego Padres along with reliever Bryan Hoeing for four minor league players.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dally
Elias Burke, The Athletic, 23 Dec. 2024
As is so often the case for Hong, his latest is a gentle, hypnotically watchable film that breezes by as Iris does herself, dallying around Seoul in a loose summer dress and her striking bright-green cardigan.
—David Opie, IndieWire, 21 Nov. 2024
This is no time for the dilly-dallying dog days of August.
—Tim Britton, The Athletic, 15 Aug. 2024
The Dodgers were dallying in Scott's trade market before he was sent to the San Diego Padres along with reliever Bryan Hoeing for four minor league players.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dally
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dally
Verb
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Meanwhile, Rita Wilson, who plays Jessica’s mother, Lois, has been married to Tom Hanks for more than three decades.—
Katie Mannion,
People.com,
14 July 2025
-
Rookie Christian Moore has only played in 18 games, but has shown some flashes of brilliance, including a game-tying and then a game-winning home run against the Red Sox late last month.—
Dan Freedman,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
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But there are still lingering worries about how long Amazon and Apple will keep movies in theaters before sending them to streaming.—
Pamela McClintock,
HollywoodReporter,
9 July 2025
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This slight chance of thunderstorms lingers into Wednesday as the upper low passes over the region.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
9 July 2025
Verb
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But going all day Tuesday and Wednesday is flirting with overkill and asking too much, even of the devout slackers.—
Joe Rexrode,
New York Times,
10 July 2025
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On the list includes at least flirting with reaching the Big 12 title game, a feat the team has never achieved, and the college football playoffs.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 July 2025
Verb
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Apple looks to have delayed the release of the new macOS hardware into 2026.—
Ewan Spence,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
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Dietary changes such as intermittent fasting, caloric restriction, and ketogenic diet with regular exercise can prevent MASH or delay its progression.—
Suchandrima Bhowmik,
Health,
12 July 2025
Verb
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As if aware that engaging plot is not the story’s strongest suit, Nicholaw keeps his foot on the accelerator throughout, making sure nothing and no one dawdles as the production hurtles from one incident to the next.—
David Benedict,
Variety,
24 June 2025
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Some of this feels more like dawdling: What's the point of Stick's cynical old buddy (Marc Maron) getting trapped under a fold-out bed?—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
4 June 2025
Verb
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That’s good for everyone, even expat journalists dragging their kids along to cover a new story.—
Matthew Martin,
semafor.com,
11 July 2025
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The plucky little superdog drags Superman to the Fortress of Solitude, where he is treated by a posse of robots.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
11 July 2025
Verb
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Anyone who filmed the idling trucks could claim a portion of the money collected through the fine.—
Clare Sestanovich,
New Yorker,
13 July 2025
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The clothing description of the suspect that Romero provided his fellow officers didn’t match a description provided by a witness who spotted the shooter open fire, then run into an idling car that sped him away from the shooting scene, according to Fletcher.—
City News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 July 2025
Verb
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In particular, website owners and SEO experts wanted to know how Cloudflare planned to block Google's bot from scraping sites to fuel AI overviews without risking blocking the same bot from crawling for valuable search engine placements.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 July 2025
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Both are unable, under any circumstances, to resist crawling under someone doing a downward-facing dog.—
Erika Sjule,
New Yorker,
8 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dally. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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