Word of the Day for Saturday, August 15, 2009

dalliance \DAL-ee-uhns, DAL-yuhns\, noun:

1. Frivolous spending of time; dawdling.
2. Playful flirtation.

Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whiles, like a puffâ€™d and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.
-- William Shakespeare, Hamlet

The acceptance of the role as artistic directors of the company is not a dalliance, she said yesterday. "It is an absolute, firm commitment."
-- Angela Bennie, "Blanchett: theatre job 'no dalliance'", Sydney Morning Herald, November 11, 2006

Dalliance comes from Middle English daliaunce, which is probably from Old French or Anglo-French.

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for dalliance

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