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dillydally


dil·ly·dal·ly

verb \ˈdi-lē-ˌda-lē\

Definition of DILLYDALLY

intransitive verb
: to waste time by loitering or delaying : dawdle
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Examples of DILLYDALLY

  1. <don't dillydally on the way to the store>
  2. <restaurant employees who, during the slow periods, would rather be doing something instead of just dillydallying>

Origin of DILLYDALLY

reduplication of dally
First Known Use: 1741

Related to DILLYDALLY

Synonyms: crawl, creep, dally, dawdle, diddle, delay, drag, lag, linger, loiter, lollygag (also lallygag), mope, poke, shilly-shally, tarry
Antonyms: barrel, bolt, career, course, dash, fly, hasten, hotfoot (it), hurry, race, rip, rocket, run, rush, scoot, scud, scurry, speed, tear, whirl, whisk, whiz (or whizz), zip
Related Words: fiddle (around), fool around, mess around, monkey (around), play, potter (around), putter (around), trifle; hang (around or out), idle, loaf, loll, lounge; amble, ease, inch, lumber, plod, saunter, shuffle, stagger, stroll; decelerate, slow (down or up); filibuster, procrastinate, stall, temporize
Near Antonyms: bowl, breeze, dart, hump, hurtle, hustle, scramble, stampede; gallop, jog, run, sprint, trot; accelerate, quicken, speed (up); catch up, fast-forward, outpace, outrun, outstrip, overtake
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Rhymes with DILLYDALLY

Central Valley, Great Rift Valley, Mexicali, shilly-shally, teocalli, Tin Pan Alley

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