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For example, my SO always talks about getting all of these tattoos, but then never does. Or, I talk about how I want to go on all of these world-travelling adventures, but then never do. Looking for more than "lacking follow-through."

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    procrastinate and its synonyms might be a good choice, though it doesn't exactly suggest the "not following through" aspect of what you're describing.
    – VTH
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:38
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    Hello and welcome to EL&U. Single word requests, and to some extent phrase requests, require a certain amount of context for good answers. Please have a look at the checklist provided in the single-word-requests tag info.
    – Lawrence
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 14:41

6 Answers 6

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... a word or term for always saying you're going to do something, but then not doing it...

talk is cheap - prov. It is easier to say you will do something than to actually do it. (Saying this in response to someone who promises you something implies that you do not believe that person will keep the promise.)

  • My boss keeps saying she'll give me a raise, but talk is cheap.
  • You've been promising me a new dishwasher for five years now. Talk is cheap.
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Talks a big game. It implies trying to gain stature by talking about proposed actions, but not doing anything in practice.

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I Like dreamer

Dreamer

noun [ C ] UK ​ /ˈdriː.mər/ US ​ /ˈdriː.mɚ/ ​

a person who spends a lot of time thinking about or planning enjoyable events that are not likely to happen

cambridge dict

His father said that the boy was stupid and a dreamer, but I thought differently of him.

http://www.hotfreebooks.com/book/The-Land-of-the-Black-Mountain-The-Adventures-of-Two-Englishmen-in-Montenegro-Reginald-Wyon--4.html

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Flaky could work - "not reliable in performance or behavior : undependable"

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  • Please don't just nominate words and then link to copied text. You still have to write your own answer, in your own words, with an explanation of why you think this is a suitable answer to the request. We're trying to build up a library of expert answers for future visitors, and that requires original content not just dictionary spam. Otherwise we're just somebody else’s thesaurus with voting added.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 7:19
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You can use all bark but no bite to describe such a situation. The second example from the citation shows the usage.

Full of talk that is more threatening or impressive than that which one can or will actually do.
He always threatens to call the police if I don't stay off his lawn, but he's all bark and no bite.
John talks big about how much money he'll make someday, but he's all bark and no bite.
The Free Dictionary FARLEX

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How about "Renege". Ex. He promised to come to restaurant, but later he reneged.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/world/australia/australia-refugees-united-nations.html

Here, Australia had promised something, but when it was time to act, Aus. Took hands off., they said they wont do it.

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  • While the question is unclear, the OP seems to be asking for a word to refer to a person who does this habitually.
    – Scott - Слава Україні
    Commented Aug 21, 2018 at 1:52

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