dalliance

noun

dal·​li·​ance ˈda-lē-ən(t)s 

: an act of dallying: such as

a

: play

especially : amorous play

had dalliances with several women before getting married

b

: frivolous action : trifling

had a brief dalliance with acting

Synonyms

• frolic
• frolicking
• fun
• fun and games
• play
• recreation
• relaxation
• rollicking
• sport

Examples of dalliance in a Sentence

an extremely serious scientist who is not much given to dalliance or idle chitchat

Recent Examples on the Web

Her co-star was John Gilbert, with whom Garbo had an off-screen dalliance. —David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 June 2025

His multiple dalliances with performance-enhancing drugs certainly didn’t help. —Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 2 June 2025

Consider Rumi’s dalliance with illegally downloading music, which puts him on the radar of a not-so-mysterious pen pal known as Curious_George_Bush43! —Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 2 June 2025

The French house has had dalliances with architectural grandeur by Ferré, retro-tinged glamor under Galliano, minimalism under Simons, and customer-friendly classicism with Chiuri. —Miles Socha, Footwear News, 2 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

dalliance

noun

dal·​li·​ance ˈdal-ē-ən(t)s 

1

: play entry 1 sense 2

especially : the act of flirting

2

: action lacking in importance or seriousness

a short dalliance with politics