dilly-dallier

9.7

A person who delays decisions and wastes time

noun
/ˈdɪliˌdæliər/

Informal

: procrastinador

Stop being such a dilly-dallier and make a decision already.

Examples

As a notorious dilly-dallier, he often missed important deadlines.
There's no room for dilly-dalliers on a busy construction site.
Don't be such a dilly-dallier!
She is a notorious dilly-dallier when it comes to making decisions.
As a dilly-dallier, she always takes too long to make decisions, making her late for appointments.
His reputation as a dilly-dallier means he often misses important deadlines.
Everyone knows he's a dilly-dallier; he can't decide what to order at restaurants.

Synonyms

drone

vsdilly-dallier

Offensive

43 7.6

A person who works slowly and avoids effort

delays more from indecision or lack of urgency rather than plain laziness

procrastinator

vsdilly-dallier

8 4.6

A person who often puts off work until the last minute

delays more from indecision or lack of urgency rather than active avoidance

idler

vsdilly-dallier

Offensive

2 7.0

A person who avoids work and does very little

delays from indecision or low urgency rather than active avoidance of work

goof-off

vsdilly-dallier

Informal

2 8.6

A person who avoids work and wastes time

delays from indecision or low urgency rather than deliberate shirking

lagger

vsdilly-dallier

1 8.1

A person who falls behind others because they are slower

is delayed by indecision or low urgency rather than only a slower pace

poke

vsdilly-dallier

Informal

1 8.6

A person who moves slowly and falls behind others

delays more from hesitancy or low urgency rather than simple slowness

dallier

vsdilly-dallier

1 9.5

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

is the fuller or more common expression emphasizing indecision or slow action

ditherer

vsdilly-dallier

1 7.9

A person who cannot make decisions quickly or confidently

delays actions more from lack of urgency rather than only weak confidence

staller

vsdilly-dallier

1 7.9

A person who delays making decisions on purpose

delays more from indecision or low urgency rather than by choice

delayer

vsdilly-dallier

1 7.4

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

delays more from indecision or lack of urgency rather than neutral postponement

dawdler

vsdilly-dallier

1 7.1

A person who moves slowly and wastes time

delays because of indecision or low urgency rather than simple slowness

slowcoach

vsdilly-dallier

Offensive

1 8.4

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

delays more from indecision or lack of urgency rather than general slowness

lounger

vsdilly-dallier

1 5.8

A person who often rests and does very little

delays more from indecision or lack of urgency rather than relaxed idling

diddler

vsdilly-dallier

Informal

1 9.9

A person who wastes time and does no real work

delays more from indecision or low urgency rather than plain aimlessness

dillydallier

vsdilly-dallier

Informal

8.6

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

is the hyphenated or fuller written form of the same idea

hoverer

vsdilly-dallier

7.5

A person who delays choosing because they cannot make up their mind

delays from ongoing lack of urgency rather than a brief pause

cunctator

vsdilly-dallier

Archaic

9.9

A person who often delays doing things or making decisions

focuses more on indecision or low urgency rather than habit alone

temporizer

vsdilly-dallier

Formal

9.9

A person who delays action to wait for a better moment

delays instead from indecision or low urgency rather than strategy

piddler

vsdilly-dallier

Informal

9.7

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

delays because of indecision or low urgency rather than only trivial distraction

postponer

vsdilly-dallier

Offensive

8.4

A person who often delays tasks until the last minute

delays more from indecision or lack of urgency rather than simple postponement

Antonyms

go-getter

16 5.0

A person who is active and tries hard to succeed, especially at work

How Hesitant

procrastinator

8 4.6

dilly-dallier

Informal

9.7

dawdler

1 7.1

slowpoke

Offensive

5 6.8

Surface Forms

dilly-dallier singular

dilly-dalliers plural

Morphology

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

The agentive formation from 'dilly-dally' is clear, but 'dilly' is an expressive reduplicant and the compound itself is somewhat idiomatic.

Etymology

Dilly-dallier comes from the simple English verb dally, which means 'to waste time' or 'to delay', and the playful twin dilly was added to make the idea stronger. So a dilly-dallier is someone who keeps delaying or wasting time.