- Today's Word
Dillydally
[DIL-ee-dal-ee]
Definition
- (verb) To waste time through aimless wandering or indecision, to procrastinate, or to delay taking action. It often implies a lack of urgency or purpose, typically when someone should be doing something more productive.
Example
The project manager grew increasingly frustrated as her team continued to dillydally instead of meeting their deadlines, causing delays in the overall project timeline.
Fun Fact
The term “dillydally” is believed to have originated in the 16th century as a reduplication of the word “dally,” which means to waste time or loiter. Reduplication (repeating a word or part of a word) is a common way to create emphasis in many languages, and in this case, it reinforces the idea of prolonged or repeated delay.
(verb) To assign someone or something to a lower position, status, or role—often as a form of dismissal or reduction in importance.
After the scandal, the senator was relegated to a minor committee post.
Late Middle English: from Latin relegare, meaning “to send away,” from re- ‘again’ + legare ‘to send’.