dillydallier

8.6

A person who wastes time by being slow to act or decide

noun
/ˈdɪliˌdæliər/

Informal

: procrastinador

Don't be such a dillydallier when we have a deadline!

Examples

The team lost patience with the dillydallier who was always late for meetings.
My brother is a real dillydallier when it comes to making decisions.
Stop being such a dillydallier and finish your work on time.
There's no room for a dillydallier in this fast-paced environment.
The project suffered delays because of a dillydallier on the team who couldn't make decisions quickly.
Everyone was frustrated with the dillydallier who took too long to submit his part of the assignment.
In a competitive workplace, being a dillydallier can cost you your job.

Synonyms

drone

vsdillydallier

Offensive

43 7.6

A person who works slowly and avoids effort

is more about wasting time by indecision rather than general laziness

procrastinator

vsdillydallier

8 4.6

A person who often puts off work until the last minute

is more about wasting time by indecision or slowness rather than deliberate postponement

slowpoke

vsdillydallier

Offensive

5 6.8

A person who does things more slowly than other people

is about wasting time through slowness or indecision, not only lacking speed

idler

vsdillydallier

Offensive

2 7.0

A person who avoids work and does very little

is more about wasting time by indecision or slowness rather than general laziness

goof-off

vsdillydallier

Informal

2 8.6

A person who avoids work and wastes time

is more about slow indecision rather than deliberate shirking of duty

lagger

vsdillydallier

1 8.1

A person who falls behind others because they are slower

is about wasting time through indecision or dawdling, not just lagging behind

plodder

vsdillydallier

1 6.5

A person who works slowly and steadily without much energy or imagination

is about wasting time through indecision rather than steady slow work

poke

vsdillydallier

Informal

1 8.6

A person who moves slowly and falls behind others

is about wasting time by indecision or aimlessness rather than mere slowness

dallier

vsdillydallier

1 9.5

A person who wastes time and does not make decisions or take action

is the longer or more expressive form rather than the short one

dawdler

vsdillydallier

1 7.1

A person who moves slowly and wastes time

is more about wasting time because of indecision rather than only slow movement

ditherer

vsdillydallier

1 7.9

A person who cannot make decisions quickly or confidently

is about wasting time by being slow as well as being unable to decide

staller

vsdillydallier

1 7.9

A person who delays making decisions on purpose

is usually slow or undecided rather than intentionally avoiding action

delayer

vsdillydallier

1 7.4

A person who often waits until the last minute to do things

is more about wasting time by slowness or indecision rather than general postponement

diddler

vsdillydallier

Informal

1 9.9

A person who wastes time and does no real work

is about wasting time from slowness or indecision rather than playful aimlessness

lounger

vsdillydallier

1 5.8

A person who often rests and does very little

is usually active in delaying through indecision or slowness, not merely idle rest

slowcoach

vsdillydallier

Offensive

1 8.4

A person who takes a long time to do things and makes others wait

is about wasting time by indecision not only slow thinking

dilly-dallier

vsdillydallier

Informal

9.7

A person who delays decisions and wastes time

is the same idea but written without the hyphen

cunctator

vsdillydallier

Archaic

9.9

A person who often delays doing things or making decisions

is about wasting time through slow or indecisive behaviour rather than deliberate postponement

temporizer

vsdillydallier

Formal

9.9

A person who delays action to wait for a better moment

is about wasting time by slowness or indecision, not strategic advantage-seeking

piddler

vsdillydallier

Informal

9.7

A person who wastes time on small unimportant tasks instead of doing useful work

is more about slow indecision rather than busying oneself with trivial tasks

fritterer

vsdillydallier

8.9

A person who wastes time or money on unimportant things

is focused on wasting time specifically rather than also wasting resources

potterer

vsdillydallier

9.9

A person who spends time doing small, unimportant tasks slowly

is more about wasting time through indecision or slowness rather than gentle leisureliness

incher

vsdillydallier

Informal

9.9

A person who moves forward very slowly, one small step at a time

is about wasting time by indecision rather than tiny steady progress

Antonyms

doer

40 3.5

A person who takes action to finish tasks

achiever

18 3.2

A person who reaches their goals through hard work and skill

How Hesitant

procrastinator

8 4.6

dillydallier

Informal

8.6

dawdler

1 7.1

slowpoke

Offensive

5 6.8

Surface Forms

dillydallier singular

dillydalliers plural

Morphology

dillydallier = dilly-dally (transparent) = dilly + dally + er

The agentive suffix '-er' transparently forms 'a person who dilly-dallies' from the verb 'dilly-dally'.

Etymology

Dillydallier comes from repeating the older word dally, which means 'to waste time'. The playful double form is like calling someone a slow dawdler, so a dillydallier is a person who delays or moves slowly.