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Drag one's heels

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To deliberately delay or show reluctance in acting, often by moving slowly and with visible disinclination; it suggests passive resistance or procrastination.

Detailed Definition
Drag one's heels means to delay, resist, or proceed unwillingly and slowly. In poetry, it can characterise reluctance before change, apology, reform, departure, work, or emotional truth. The idiom’s physical image suggests feet pulled heavily along the ground, making hesitation visible. It can describe individuals, institutions, governments, or even seasons slow to turn. Poets may use it to criticise avoidance, but also to show human fear when movement means loss, exposure, responsibility, or irreversible transformation.
Example
Example in poetry:
A narrative poem might show the magistrate dragging his heels while justice waits; In a love poem, one speaker drags their heels before admitting the truth; The phrase suits poems about delay, reluctance, and avoidance; A poet could use it to make procrastination feel like a physical slowing of the feet.
Additional Notes
Drag one’s heels means delay reluctantly, resist action, or move slowly through lack of will. The bodily image is vivid: the feet do not lift cleanly, but scrape against progress. In poetry it can characterise bureaucratic delay, emotional hesitation, ageing, dread, or passive resistance. It pairs well with dust, roads, shoes, thresholds, and the heavy rhythm of reluctance.
Also Known As
delay
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