How to Use dither in a Sentence

dither

1 of 2 verb

• We don't have time to dither.
• She did not dither about what to do next.
• The world has dithered too long for an easy fix to still be on the table.
  — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 7 Mar. 2018
• But don’t just stand there and dither until the world gets around to squashing you like a bug.
  — Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
• Neither of them is going to sit around dithering.
  — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 23 Oct. 2025
• That seems a better use of our time than dithering about, say, which running shoe to buy.
  — Maya Singer, Vogue, 4 Feb. 2019
• To delay or dither is to play into Moscow’s hands.
  — Dan Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Sep. 2025
• Trump dithered, then waited until the last minute to back Paxton.
  — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 20 May 2026
• After a while this starts to feel like dithering, or the machinations of soap opera.
  — Gary Thompson, Philly.com, 10 May 2018
• At the same time, there are palpable concerns that the West dithered too long.
  — Anastacia Galouchka, Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2023
• This sounds like dithering that might have cost American lives.
  — Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 28 June 2016
• In the course of this dithering, the statute of limitations lapsed on key charges.
  — The Editors, National Review, 23 June 2023
• While Ferrari dithered over how to improve things, the brand suffered.
  — Chris Bryant | Bloomberg, Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2019
• Now Khimyah was dithering between a dark-blue and a hot-pink winter jacket.
  — Hannah Natanson, Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2019
• There is no discussion of lean toning or dithering about building bulk.
  — Zan Romanoff, Bon Appetit, 30 Dec. 2017
• People shouted over each other as the performers dithered over ideas and raced around the venue.
  — Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2026
• But if the council dithers too much, the city could lose valuable time in this first construction season.
  — Lynn Horsley, kansascity.com, 5 June 2017
• As the authorities dithered, people across the city grew restless.
  — Anand Gopal, New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2026
• Adding to the frustration was the fact that Congress dithered for days after the loan program ran out.
  — Tom Benning, Dallas News, 23 Apr. 2020
• The wine list is similarly easy to digest, with just 40-some bottles over which to dither.
  — Mike Sula, Chicago Reader, 22 June 2017
• As central banks around the world race to cut interest rates, this is no time for the ECB to dither.
  — Washington Post, 9 Sep. 2019
• That toll would have been lower if the Chinese authorities had not dithered and hushed up the outbreak for months.
  — The Economist, 22 Jan. 2020
• Be a discriminating buyer, but don't waste too much time dithering over the details.
  — Magi Helena, oregonlive, 19 Dec. 2019
• The dithering middle-age killjoys follow the girls, and their dates, from prom to lakeside after-party to hotel bash.
  — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 5 Apr. 2018
• But phase two of the program kept getting delayed, in part because Congress dithered on funding.
  — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 10 July 2026
• The months the president spent dithering in the face of terrorist aggression raised the stakes of this conflict.
  — The Editors, National Review, 12 Jan. 2024
• Instead, Democrats and Congress have obstructed and dithered and haven't fixed the problem.
  — Fox News, 7 Apr. 2018
• Waiting a second too long to return to a cell bed or dithering over when to act means the difference between failure and success.
  — Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times, 14 May 2020
• The big mistake last time was to dither—containing an epidemic early is easier and cheaper and saves lives.
  — The Economist, 24 May 2018
• Clerics in Najaf have dithered on the kingdom’s request to open a consulate in the Shias’ holiest city.
  — The Economist, 8 Mar. 2018

dither

2 of 2 noun

• Grandma usually gets in a dither if I don't make my weekly call.
• In some ways that's a relief; you won't be tempted to dither.
  — Brian Barrett, WIRED, 25 Apr. 2018
• In a city short on space and high on need for homeless services, there’s no more time to dither.
  — Heather Knight, SFChronicle.com, 24 Jan. 2020
• To do less or to dither rather than decide is to shirk our duty and betray the public’s trust.
  — Gov. Butch Otter, idahostatesman, 8 Jan. 2018
• In this case, the focal family is all in a dither, readying for a Christmas trip to Paris.
  — Duane Bygre, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Nov. 2022
• Democrats are raising alarms that Vladimir Putin could advance on Kyiv while Congress dithers.
  — David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024
• This film dithers for three hours, as if viewers were also morally uncertain and aesthetically gullible.
  — Armond White, National Review, 21 July 2023
• This version takes Jones, a charismatic actress with a lithe, flexible voice, and gives her little to do except stress and dither.
  — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 8 Aug. 2022
• Mr Johnson himself argued forcefully against any further dither or delay.
  — The Economist, 3 Oct. 2019
• Winners take bold actions, dominate others and impose their will on the world; losers hem and haw, dither and consult, exercise restraint.
  — Nitsuh Abebe, New York Times, 20 June 2017
• In this telling, corporate America has taken action on gay rights, gun control, climate change, and the minimum wage—all while Congress dithers.
  — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 6 Mar. 2018
• Followers have long suspected that Bey at the very least would release new music before the tour was over, so the arrival announcement promptly sent the internet into a dither.
  — refinery29.com, 18 June 2018
• Center Theatre Group, in a dither after Michael Ritchie’s lackluster tenure, is undergoing a search for its new leader.
  — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2023
• The American steel industry has suffered as the market floods with imports, forcing prices down, all while the Administration dithers and delays over tariffs.
  — Time, 15 Feb. 2018
• As global warming becomes direr – and nations dither about decreasing emissions – could these controversial technological fixes known as geoengineering buy us time to move away from burning fossil fuels?
  — USA Today, 24 Dec. 2019
• Instead, he and scriptwriter Taylor Sheridan (who wrote the original) dither away into subplots, including one that is ludicrously contrived and seems designed to continue the franchise.
  — Peter Keough, BostonGlobe.com, 28 June 2018
• But until that happens, a whole Greek chorus of tough-talkin’ ranchers, Mexican satirists, East Coast elitists and up-in-a-dither environmentalists are squawking in unison.
  — Patrick May, The Mercury News, 22 Mar. 2017
• As Washington dithers and fights, Bexar County commissioners are taking swift action, creating a $5 million loan and grant program to help small businesses hurt by the coronavirus.
  — Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, ExpressNews.com, 24 Mar. 2020
• Intercutting scenes of Jen’s moral dithering with scenes in which Waiter and Manager dither emotionally, the playwright convincingly suggests a world in which only evil is decisive.
  — Jesse Green, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2018
• But that counterintuitive ranking, in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican statewide in years, has Democrats in a dither and reform advocates once again saying that California needs to shift to a more representative form of voting.
  — James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2026
• Those with intercollegiate athletic programs are in a dither figuring out what will happen to NCAA games, especially football, which is key to the identify of many universities and finances other sports at the largest schools.
  — Dennis Wagner, USA TODAY, 5 July 2020