dawdle – English verb conjugation

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to dawdle
Participle: dawdled
Gerund: dawdling

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

I	dawdle
you	dawdle
he;she;it	dawdles
we	dawdle
you	dawdle
they	dawdle

Perfect

I	have dawdled
you	have dawdled
he;she;it	has dawdled
we	have dawdled
you	have dawdled
they	have dawdled

Past

I	dawdled
you	dawdled
he;she;it	dawdled
we	dawdled
you	dawdled
they	dawdled

Pluperfect

I	had dawdled
you	had dawdled
he;she;it	had dawdled
we	had dawdled
you	had dawdled
they	had dawdled

Future

I	will dawdle
you	will dawdle
he;she;it	will dawdle
we	will dawdle
you	will dawdle
they	will dawdle

Future Perfect

I	will have dawdled
you	will have dawdled
he;she;it	will have dawdled
we	will have dawdled
you	will have dawdled
they	will have dawdled

Subjunctive

Present

I	dawdle
you	dawdle
he;she;it	dawdle
we	dawdle
you	dawdle
they	dawdle

Perfect

I	have dawdled
you	have dawdled
he;she;it	have dawdled
we	have dawdled
you	have dawdled
they	have dawdled

Imperfect

I	dawdled
you	dawdled
he;she;it	dawdled
we	dawdled
you	dawdled
they	dawdled

Pluperfect

I	had dawdled
you	had dawdled
he;she;it	had dawdled
we	had dawdled
you	had dawdled
they	had dawdled

Conditional

Present

I	would dawdle
you	would dawdle
he;she;it	would dawdle
we	would dawdle
you	would dawdle
they	would dawdle

Perfect

I	would have dawdled
you	would have dawdled
he;she;it	would have dawdled
we	would have dawdled
you	would have dawdled
they	would have dawdled

Imperative

you	dawdle
we	Let's dawdle
you	dawdle

Indicative

Present

I	am dawdling
you	are dawdling
he;she;it	is dawdling
we	are dawdling
you	are dawdling
they	are dawdling

Perfect

I	have been dawdling
you	have been dawdling
he;she;it	has been dawdling
we	have been dawdling
you	have been dawdling
they	have been dawdling

Past

I	was dawdling
you	were dawdling
he;she;it	was dawdling
we	were dawdling
you	were dawdling
they	were dawdling

Pluperfect

I	had been dawdling
you	had been dawdling
he;she;it	had been dawdling
we	had been dawdling
you	had been dawdling
they	had been dawdling

Future

I	will be dawdling
you	will be dawdling
he;she;it	will be dawdling
we	will be dawdling
you	will be dawdling
they	will be dawdling

Future Perfect

I	will have been dawdling
you	will have been dawdling
he;she;it	will have been dawdling
we	will have been dawdling
you	will have been dawdling
they	will have been dawdling

Conditional

Present

I	would be dawdling
you	would be dawdling
he;she;it	would be dawdling
we	would be dawdling
you	would be dawdling
they	would be dawdling

Perfect

I	would have been dawdling
you	would have been dawdling
he;she;it	would have been dawdling
we	would have been dawdling
you	would have been dawdling
they	would have been dawdling

Verbs conjugated like 'dawdle'

abacinate, abalienate, abase, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, abduce, aberrate, aberuncate, abirritate, abjudge, abjudicate, abjugate, abjure, ablactate, ablaqueate, able, ablegate, abligate, abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Verbs similar to 'dawdle'

daddle, dadle, daidle, dandle, addle, candle, caudle, dabble, dable, dade,

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

to be idle: arse about, arse around, bludge, bum around, cabbage, clown around, dick about, dick around, dilly-dally, drumble, faff, faff about, faff around, fanny about, fanny around, fart about, fart around, fiddle about, fiddle around, fool about, fool around, footle, goof around, goof off, hang about, hang around, hang out, horse around, idle, jerk off, lallygag, laze, laze about, laze around, linger, loaf, loaf about, loaf around, loiter, lollygag, mess around, mill about, mill around, muck about, muck around, tarry, waste time, while

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

1. c.1656, perhaps a variant of daddle "to walk unsteadily." Perhaps influenced by daw, since the bird was regarded as sluggish and silly. Not in general use until c.1775.
2. The verb is possibly:
3. * a variant of daddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk or work slowly, dawdle, saunter, trifle”) or doddle (“(Britain, dialectal) to walk feebly or slowly, dawdle, idle, saunter, stroll”), possibly influenced by daw (“(Britain, dialectal) lazy, good-for-nothing person, sluggard”); or
4. * borrowed from Middle Low German dȫdelen (“to dawdle”), related to Saterland Frisian döädelje (“to dawdle”); compare also German daddeln (“to play”), German verdaddeln (“to waste (time), neglect, ruin”). All of these words are assumed to be of imitative origin.
5. The noun is derived from the verb. See: Frisian, Saterlandic 'döädelje', German, old spelling 'daddeln', German, old spelling 'verdaddeln'.

Sample Sentences

to dawdle away the whole morning
[M]anaging to live on terms with both / Opposing potentates, the Power and you, / Crowned with success, but dawdle out my days / In exile here at Clairvaux, with mock love, […] [1873 January 23, Robert Browning, “Part IV”, in Red Cotton Night-Cap Country: Or Turf and Towers, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 230–231:]
Tell him, if he'll call on me, and davvdle over a diſh of tea in an afternoon, I ſhall take it kind. [1791, James Boswell, quoting Samuel Johnson, “[1781]”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume II, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 405:]
Mr. Collins was not left long to the silent contemplation of his successful love; for Mrs. Bennett, having dawdled about in the vestibule to watch for the end of the conference, no sooner saw Elizabeth open the door and with quick step pass he towards the staircase, than she entered the breakfast-room, and congratulated both him and herself in warm terms on the happy prospect of their nearer connection. [1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XX, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 255:]
You all know when you learn with a will, and when you dawdle. There's no doubt of conscience about that, I suppose? [1866, John Ruskin, “Crystal Virtues”, in The Ethics of the Dust: Ten Lectures to Little Housewives on the Elements of Crystallisation, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 90:]
There are no idlers here; the only loungers are those who have undertaken for hire to do other people's business, and the hireling dawdleth because he is an hireling. What is his master's business to him? he neither knows its importance nor yet cares he if it be neglected. [1888, [Julia Clara Byrne], chapter X, in De Omnibus Rebus: An Old Man’s Discursive Ramblings on the Road of Everyday Life […], John C. Nimmo […], →OCLC, pages 263–264:]
White creature wholly white, thou winter-coloured imp, tongue-shaped and slippery, 'wall-streak' and 'rubbish of the floor,' that livest 'neath timbers of a house, that dawdlest underneath the nook, […] [1898, John Abercromby, “Charms of the East Finns, Russians, Letts, etc.”, in The Pre- and Proto-historic Finns: Both Eastern and Western with the Magic Songs of the West Finns, volume II, London: David Nutt […], →OCLC, § 86 (Against the Cow-house Snake), subsection b, page 172:]
However all [Wayne] Hennessey's good work went to waste on 52 minutes when he dawdled on the ball. [2011 October 29, Neil Johnston, “Norwich 3 – 3 Blackburn”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2023:]
If you dawdle on your daily walk, you won’t get as much exercise.
[W]e, who, in muddy boots, dawdle up and down Pall Mall, and peep into the coaches as they drive up with the great folks in their feathers— […] [1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which the Reader is Introduced to the Very Best of Company”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 427:]
[…] I began to wonder if this Arthur were really the same lad she used to pet and think so much of when he came down to Leatherhead and dawdled with my Lady and Bell along the Surrey lanes of an evening. [1872, William Black, “Saved!”, in The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton. […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 267:]
Blessed are the drivers who dawdleth not in the fast lane. [2005, Charles Manley Brown, “Laws and Regulations”, in Thou Shalt Not Take Thyself too … Seriously: The Lighter Side of the Golden Years, Victoria, B.C.: Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 68:]

dawdle – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of dawdle

Nominal Forms

Cognates

Indicative

Present

Perfect

Past

Pluperfect

Future

Future Perfect

Subjunctive

Present

Perfect

Imperfect

Pluperfect

Conditional

Present

Perfect

Imperative

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Perfect

Past

Pluperfect

Future

Future Perfect

Conditional

Present

Perfect

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'dawdle'

Verbs similar to 'dawdle'

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

Sample Sentences