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dawdle

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To spend time idly and unfruitfully.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

dawduhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈdɔdəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To spend time idly and unfruitfully; to waste time.

  2. transitive

    Chiefly followed by away: to spend (time) without haste or purpose.

  3. intransitive

    To move or walk lackadaisically.

noun

  1. An act of spending time idly and unfruitfully; a dawdling.

  2. An act of moving or walking lackadaisically, a dawdling; a leisurely or slow walk or other journey.

  3. A job, task, or other activity that is easy to complete or simple.

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To spend time idly and unfruitfully; to waste time.

Used this way, dawdle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: spending time idly and unfruitfully

rush

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.