Is there a word that means "to walk slowly"?

Question

The only word that comes to my mind is tiptoe. However, this word implies that you are walking stealthily or cautiously.

Is there a word that just means to walk slowly?

Example sentence:

Without knowing what I was doing, I _ toward her.

Answer 1

I would suggest amble:

verb

1. to go at a slow, easy pace; stroll; saunter:

noun

4. a slow, easy walk or gentle pace.

^{dictionary.com}

Your sentence would then be:

Without knowing what I was doing, I ambled toward her.

As that definition suggests, strolled or sauntered may also work for you.

Answer 2

Depends on what kind of a slow walk you are looking for.

Plod (verb)

walk doggedly and slowly with heavy steps.

e.g. She plodded into the kitchen after a tiresome day.

Lumber (verb)

move in a slow, heavy, awkward way.

Shamble (verb)

(of a person) move with a slow, shuffling, awkward gait.

So the answer would be, "Without knowing what I was doing, I plodded/shambled/lumbered towards her".

Answer 3

Dawdle:

move slowly and idly in a particular direction.

^{en.oxforddictionaries.com}

This is the word I would use.

Answer 4

If it's done in a relaxed and leisurely manner, then you "moseyed toward her".

From Cambridge:

to walk or go slowly, usually without a special purpose:

I'll just mosey on down to the beach for a while.

I'd say the closest synonym is "saunter" (and it's the first word I thought of when I came across this question but saw that I'd been beaten to it) and I'd also say it's perhaps more common in AmE than BrE.

Answer 5

Strolled.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stroll

Definition #2:

to walk in a leisurely or idle manner

Answer 6

My proposes:

Without knowing what I was doing, I drifted toward her.

[with adverbial of direction] Walk slowly, aimlessly, or casually. Definition from Oxford Dictionary

Without knowing what I was doing, I tended toward her.

[no object, with adverbial] Go or move in a particular direction. Definition from Oxford Dictionary

Edit

I do agree that the second usage is very rare, so maybe a better option would be

I tended to move toward her

Answer 7

I would suggest gravitated:

verb

1. move towards or be attracted to a person or thing. "young western Europeans will gravitate to Berlin"

2. [physics] move, or tend to move, towards a centre of gravity or other attractive force.

^{https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=gravitated&oq=gravitated}

Your sentence would then be:

Without knowing what I was doing, I gravitated toward her.

Or it may suit to extend the orbit theme with:

Without knowing what I was doing, I gravitated into her sphere of influence.

There's an implication that your character's path is altered by proximity to her, and that the closer their proximity, the faster they move/quicker things happen. This allusion to orbital mechanics may suit your story.

Note there's a follow-on that gravitating too close may lead to a collision. Depending on rest of the story, this may be seen as foreshadowing the impact/destruction of one's way of life/all dinosaurs on earth.

Answer 8

How about sidle?

intransitive v.

To advance in an unobtrusive, furtive, or coy way: swindlers who sidle up to tourists.

— wordnik

In your sentence:

Without knowing what I was doing, I sidled toward her.

Examples from the Merriam Webster page:

He sidled up to me and slipped me a note.

She sidled over and whispered, “Do you see that guy?”.

Answer 9

Slightly lateral: when we tell our dog to "sit and stay," but he inches (oops, there's another possibility! :-) ) towards us, we call it "worming" .

Answer 10

Trudge may be suitable in some contexts.

Trudge: to walk or march steadily and usually laboriously

Answer 11

Amble

Amble: to go at a slow, easy pace

Traipse

Traipse: to walk or go aimlessly or idly or without finding or reaching one's goal

Mope

Mope: to move or act in an aimless way

Linger

Linger: to walk slowly

Drift

Drift: to wander aimlessly

Dilly-dally

Dilly-dally: To idle; dither in an aimless or pointless fashion

Meander

Meander: to wander aimlessly

Wander

Wander: to go aimlessly, indirectly, or casually

Answer 12

'Saunter' has been mentioned but I feel it deserves a proper answer. It's the word I immediately thought of.

to walk about in an idle or leisurely manner

-Merriam-Webster

to walk in a slow and relaxed way, often in no particular direction

-Cambridge Dictionary

Answer 13

Trundle is pretty much perfect for this. In this case, "trundled towards"

from oxforddictionaries.com definition 1.1 :

(of a person) move heavily and slowly. ‘she heard him coughing as he trundled out’

Answer 14

Dandered - Verb

(Ulster) To walk along with no particular haste.

To dander along the beach.

Synonyms

• bimble
• stroll
• wander

^{en.wiktionary.org}

Answer 15

The dictionary I often use gives edged. I like that because that is the way I would approach the edge of a cliff.

To move gradually or hesitantly: The child edged toward the door.

^{thefreedictionary.com}

It introduces an element of danger or fear. Of course it would depend on the context.

Answer 16

shuffle - 1. To walk without lifting the feet or with clumsy steps and a shambling gait.

Without knowing what I was doing, I shuffled toward her.

Answer 17

I am surprised nobody has mentioned crawl yet:

to move slowly with the body close to the ground ; the time we had to crawl through a narrow passageway from one cave to another

or

to move slowly ; the weekend traffic on the road to the beach just crawled

Answer 18

Stalked verb (used without object)

1. to pursue or approach prey, quarry, etc., stealthily.

2. to walk with measured, stiff, or haughty strides: He was so angry he stalked away without saying goodbye.

Like several other answers here, this one will depend heavily on the context of the movement as to whether this is the appropriate type of movement.

Answer 19

Another option is skulk:

To move about stealthily.

^{thefreedictionary.com}

However it does carry a connotation of sneaking out of shame or embarassment. I wouldn't use it if the primary underlying factor is subconscious attraction, but I might if I were trying to additionally impart the subject with shyness or social awkwardness.

Answer 20

For walk slowly I like Perambulate:

walk or travel through or around a place or area, especially for pleasure > and in a leisurely way.

(similar to meander and saunter)

Though this, and many other answers here, seem to convey a sort of intentional type of slow movement. Your sentence example, wherein the subject seems hypnotized, lends itself more to drift (as is mentioned in AndyT's comment) or perhaps float?

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/perambulate

Answer 21

For me the word that fits is - sashay. From Wordnik 'intransitive v. To walk or proceed, especially in an easy or casual manner.' But the accepted answer is fine too. It all depends on the ambience.

Answer 22

Sorry for the short answer all - I'm more used to Stack Overflow where short answers are treated like royalty :D

Better response:

I still like meander as it has a whimsical connotation - which the provided example seems to be wanting. It was pointed out that prance has an energy to it that makes it incompatible but shuffled is still a decent option, though a bit defeated sounding for OP's example...

Stepped is still workable - just a bit dull.

I would say of my previous suggestions, meander holds up the best.