shilly-shallied

verb

past tense of shilly-shally
1
as in hesitated
to show uncertainty about the right course of action I didn't shilly-shally but instead raced to the hospital as soon as I heard the news

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in delayed
to move or act slowly with dinner guests due in two hours, there was no time to shilly-shally in front of the TV set

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shilly-shallied
  1. hesitated
  2. delayed
  3. faltered
  4. lingered
  5. dragged
  6. crawled
  7. poked
Verb
  • While its lawyers have not hesitated to send cease-and-desist letters to AI companies, Disney is among the big media companies looking for ways to get in the AI game and profit from its boom.
    — Dade Hayes, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Teammates excitedly jumped off the bench, then hesitated when Thiero’s right knee appeared to buckle awkwardly under him.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of hesitated
Verb
  • But technical and regulatory hurdles repeatedly delayed certification of the largest version of Boeing's bestselling 737 family.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Results were delayed after late openings forced more than 100 polling stations to extend voting hours Monday.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • On top of all of that, the AI trade faltered this week amid growing concerns that some companies are issuing too much debt to build out their AI networks.
    — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
  • This week a deal for Volta Infrastructure faltered as investors feeling full-up on data center debt demanded higher yields.
    — Ellen DiMauro, semafor.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of faltered
Verb
  • At a college fair featuring hundreds of schools, Roland, who lingered for about three hours, didn’t see anyone approach the Cornell booth.
    — Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026
  • While the cold symptoms went away, the cough lingered for months.
    — Joe Van Ryn, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of lingered
Verb
  • Police say the truck trapped and dragged the child before stopping.
    — DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • But as the war dragged on and energy costs climbed, his tone changed.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • In May 2025, after Williams shut off the water in a cell, 10 inmates removed a toilet, crawled through a gap in the wall and scaled a fence out of the jail.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In real-world tests, the hand crawled across 14 different surfaces including smooth floors, metal grates, grass, and gravel.
    — Edd Gent, IEEE Spectrum, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • Already poked, the league bear hasn’t exactly gone into hibernation, either.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Bellingham poked in Gordon's cross midway through the first half.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of poked
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

shills
shilly-shallied
shilly-shallies
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Cite this Entry

“Shilly-shallied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shilly-shallied. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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