dawdle

Dawdle is a verb meaning to waste time or move slowly, delaying progress rather than acting with purpose. A person who dawdles tends to take a relaxed, unhurried pace, often resulting in unfinished tasks or tardy arrivals.

In everyday usage, dawdle carries a negative or admonitory tone, as in stop dawdling or don't dawdle. It can also be used playfully about one's own habits. The noun form is uncommon; dawdling is more often used as a gerund, and a dawdler refers to someone who dawdles.

The word appears in English from the 17th century. The precise origin is unclear, but it is generally thought to be of imitative or dialectal origin connected to slow movement.

Related terms include dilly-dally, loiter, linger, and procrastinate. Dawdle differs from these in nuance, often implying aimless or leisurely delay rather than a deliberate postponement. Phrases such as "dawdle along" and "dawdle over breakfast" illustrate its flexible use.