drag one's feet

English

Etymology

From the idea of walking while dragging one's feet along the ground, either from lack of enthusiasm or to intentionally slow down movement. Compare dig in one's heels (“firmly oppose”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

drag one's feet (third-person singular simple present drags one's feet, present participle dragging one's feet, simple past and past participle dragged one's feet)

1. (idiomatic) To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly.

   I have been dragging my feet about filing my taxes.

   • 2022 December 27, Alexi Duggins, Hollie Richardson, Kate Abbott, “The Rings of Power to Conversations With Friends: 2022’s TV letdowns”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     There was much to love about this last season, from the tense opening barfight to the finale shootout with the IRA, which was so disorientingly murky and gas-filled it felt otherworldly. But it struggled to ever quite get going, with the first five episodes dragging their feet in a way that began to frustrate.

2. (idiomatic) To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct.

   Synonyms: slow-walk, dilly-dally

Derived terms

• foot-dragging

Translations

procrastinate

• Finnish: hidastella (fi)
• French: traîner les pieds (fr)
• German: herumtrödeln (de)
• Hungarian: húzza az időt
• Italian: tirarla per le lunghe
• Russian: волочи́ть но́ги impf (voločítʹ nógi), тяну́ть рези́ну (ru) impf (tjanútʹ rezínu), тяну́ть волы́нку (ru) impf (tjanútʹ volýnku)
• Spanish: marear la perdiz (es)

See also

• delaying tactic
• dig in one's heels
• long finger (idiomatic, Ireland)