pussyfoots

verb

present tense third-person singular of pussyfoot
1
as in weasels
to avoid giving a definite answer or position politicians who try to pussyfoot around hot-button issues

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in sneaks
to move about in a sly or secret manner pussyfooting through the hallways in the middle of the night

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pussyfoots
  1. shakes
  2. sneaks
  3. lurks
  4. slips
  5. slides
Verb
  • The other is praying an elite center from another team shakes free.
    — Vincent Z. Mercogliano, New York Times, 21 July 2026
  • Consider paintings like Caracalla, where the titular emperor treads a trail of rose petals; or In a Rose Garden, where a woman shakes the petals of a rose bush down on her companion; and the extravaganza of The Roses of Heliogabalus.
    — Angelica Frey, JSTOR Daily, 17 July 2026
Definition of shakes
Verb
  • And that’s where the Leonard situation sneaks into the equation.
    — Fred Katz, New York Times, 16 July 2026
  • Moana sneaks away and sets sail, with the ocean guiding her at every step.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026
Definition of sneaks
Verb
  • Those combinations are concentrated through the middle, where Messi generally lurks, with Argentina directing a smaller share of their passing towards the flanks than any other team.
    — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 20 July 2026
  • In Elliott’s Connecticut, the governor would send a busload of stern but compassionate counselors to protect workers hiding in their office where a gunman lurks.
    — Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026
Definition of lurks
Verb
  • Later this evening, however, the moon slips into the meticulous and methodical sign of Virgo, which, in turn, grounds the atmosphere.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026
  • By night, people drift toward the beach, dinner tables fill, and music slips through the air.
    — Rafael Peña, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026
Definition of slips
Verb
  • To make room for this to happen, the dining table folds against the wall and the rear bench folds and slides forward just behind the driver's seat.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 21 July 2026
  • Bucharest sits close to the Vrancea seismic zone, where the Eurasian tectonic plate slides beneath another in a way that can produce powerful earthquakes that are felt as far as Istanbul, Kyiv or even Moscow.
    — Andrei Popoviciu, The Dial, 21 July 2026
Definition of slides
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

pussyfooting
pussyfoots
pustule
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Cite this Entry

“Pussyfoots.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pussyfoots. Accessed 26 Jul. 2026.

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