drag one's feet

present singular third person drags one's feet · participle present dragging one's feet · participle past dragged one's feet · past dragged one's feet

1. idiomaticTo procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly.

   I have been dragging my feet about filing my taxes.

   2 more examples

   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.

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

   Yet ministers continue to drag their feet, appearing to obstinately prefer any option other than the obvious, while also saying, as Lord Hendy did on January 19: "It is clear that the West Coast Main Line is full of trains. There's no space left."

   2026 February 4, Philip Haigh, “Northern England deserves a more coherent rail plan”, in RAIL, number 1054, page 51

   Synonyms: drag one's heels

2. idiomaticTo intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct.

   Synonyms: slow-walk, dilly-dally