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dance around

(slang, intransitive) To lead on or delay by deceit; to cause someone to waste time.

ˈdæns ɚˈaʊndCurrent148 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🗺️ Regional & Other
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Seen in the wild
5 citations · last seen May 2026

Seen in the wild

Definitions

#1·Apr 27, 2026

(slang, intransitive) To lead on or delay by deceit; to cause someone to waste time.

For parents

"dance around" means: To lead on or delay by deceit; to cause someone to waste time.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.

For ESL learners

"dance around" means: To lead on or delay by deceit; to cause someone to waste time.. Register: informal slang, fine in casual conversation, texting and social media but not in academic essays, business writing or formal speech. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.

Heard in the wild
  • “Was attempting to dance around it by saying the war is concluded 🙄 He forgot the enemy gets a vote”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “Doing the jerk off dance around kids when he's an Epstein pdf. This is extremely fked up.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “The fact this keeps happening and we’re still doing the whole song and dance around what these people “really” want is sad.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “i mean for some it could be worth it but at least SAY IT UP FRONT instead of making us dance around in a chain of emails where no one wants to say the number first and it ends up wasting everyone's time!!”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “rid me of the halo around the CCRU milieu (both the Fisher and Land wings) that so many of my peers dance around. not that deep bro”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
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For specific readers

"dance around" means: To lead on or delay by deceit; to cause someone to waste time.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.

Why is this section here?

Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.

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🗺️About Regional & Other slang

Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.

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