dilly-dally

[/ˈdɪli ˌdæli/]

verb

enrolar, postergar, perder tempo

1. to waste time; to be slow in making a decision; to delay unnecessarily

Stop dilly-dallying and make up your mind!

Pare de enrolar e tome uma decisão!

2. to engage in frivolous or trivial activity instead of attending to something important

We can't dilly-dally any longer; the deadline is tomorrow.

Não podemos perder mais tempo; o prazo é amanhã.

NYC Slang

futz around, screw around, waste time

Synonyms

Antonyms

Regional Variations

General Brazilian

enrolar, postergar, ficar na enrolação

most common usage

São Paulo

enrolar, perder tempo, ficar fazendo nada

similar to general Brazilian

Rio de Janeiro

enrolar, dragmar, ficar na gandaia

more colloquial variations

Portugal

hesitar, adiar, perder tempo, andar à volta

less commonly used; Portuguese prefer other expressions

stop dilly-dallying

quit dilly-dallying around

dilly-dally over something

dilly-dally on a decision

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