MEANING
To move or act slowly in a way that wastes time or delays progress.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- dawdle on the way
- dawdle over a task
On the page
He dawdled on the way until the message was no longer useful.
She refused to dawdle over the final preparations.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- dawdle
- Past tense
- dawdled
- Past participle
- dawdled
- Present participle
- dawdling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- dawdle
- Present continuous
- am/is/are dawdling
- Present perfect
- have/has dawdled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been dawdling
- Past
- dawdled
- Past continuous
- was/were dawdling
- Past perfect
- had dawdled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been dawdling
- Future
- will dawdle
- Future continuous
- will be dawdling
- Future perfect
- will have dawdled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been dawdling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: dawdle; dawdles; dawdled; dawdled; dawdling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: dawdles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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