Meaning & use
dilly-dally
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Meanings
verbintransitiveinformal
To waste time by moving slowly or delaying, when you ought to hurry.
Grammar: No object; often followed by on the way or over something: dilly-dally on the way to school.
Patterns
- dilly-dally over something
- dilly-dally on the way
Don't dilly-dally, or we'll miss the bus.
The children dilly-dallied on the way to school, stopping to look at every puddle.
She dilly-dallied over her coffee while the others waited.
verbintransitiveinformal
To be unable to make up your mind and so delay a decision.
Grammar: No object; often used with over or about: dilly-dally about a choice.
Patterns
- dilly-dally about something
- dilly-dally over something
He dilly-dallied about the job offer until it expired.
We can't dilly-dally over the menu any longer.
If you dilly-dally, someone else will buy the house.
Word forms
| third person singular | dilly-dallies |
|---|---|
| past tense | dilly-dallied |
| past participle | dilly-dallied |
| -ing form | dilly-dallying |
Common combinations
- no time to dilly-dally
- We have no time to dilly-dally if we want to catch the train.
- stop dilly-dallying
- Stop dilly-dallying and put your shoes on.
- dilly-dally on the way
- Don't dilly-dally on the way home.
- dilly-dally over
- He dilly-dallied over the decision.
- without dilly-dallying
- She answered without dilly-dallying.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dawdle
- Dawdle means to move slowly, usually while walking, whereas dilly-dally also covers hesitating over a choice.
- procrastinate
- Procrastinate is formal and means putting off a task, while dilly-dally is playful and shorter in scale.
- linger
- Linger can be pleasant, staying on because you enjoy a place, while dilly-dally implies unwanted delay.
- dither
- Dither means being unable to decide, while dilly-dally mixes indecision with slowness.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: dilly-dally or dally?
dilly-dally vs dally
Dally is a more old-fashioned verb meaning to waste time or flirt, and dilly-dally is its playful, repeated form.
Practice
Stop ______ and get in the car, because we are already late!
Choose one answer.
Dilly-dallying means wasting time, which is what you tell someone to stop doing when late. Hurrying, racing and sprinting are the very things the speaker wants.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dilly-dally”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.