SHILLY-SHALLIED Synonyms: 137 Similar and Opposite Words

shilly-shallied

verb

past tense of shilly-shally

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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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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shilly-shallied

Verb

In the second half, Freese stepped off his line to control a ball, hesitated, stubbed his foot against the ground, and lost the ball.

— Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 7 July 2026
New York has never hesitated to invest in preserving the moments that define us.

— Tunisia Morrison, New York Daily News, 5 July 2026

Definition of hesitated

Verb

Nearby bus routes that pass were also delayed or partially suspended.

— Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 8 July 2026
For some development perspective, Bridenstine brought up NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which, though also severely delayed for years leading up to its debut, managed a completely successful mission right out of the gate.

— Josh Dinner, Space.com, 7 July 2026

Definition of delayed

Verb

Trial diversity faltered after the administration purged all references to DEI from the websites of its agencies and in much of its research.

— Helen Branswell, STAT, 6 July 2026
Erdoğan’s rise as a nationalist leader As Turkey's economy slowed and regional ambitions faltered, Erdoğan pivoted once again.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 6 July 2026

Definition of faltered

Verb

At the Pfizer building on East Forty-second Street, earlier this week, disaster, and the sense of excitement that disaster can create, lingered.

— D. T. Max, New Yorker, 11 July 2026
Because the problem lingered, the break presented an opportunity to address it before the second half.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026

Definition of lingered

Verb

Two men dragged a third into the emergency room and laid him on the floor, according to footage shown in court.

— Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026
His efforts dragged him into a love triangle with Annis and her former partner, Corbin Mims, which ultimately left Caleb single ahead of Casa Amor, the show’s midseason twist.

— Tanya Fedak, Variety, 10 July 2026

Definition of dragged

Verb

Hull testified that Robinson later returned in different clothing, walking with a limp, rolled onto the roof of a building on campus and crawled to the edge of the rooftop around the time the shot was fired.

— N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 10 July 2026
Their father dismounted, went down on foot, climbed the fence his son had crawled under.

— Emily Ruskovich, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026

Definition of crawled

Verb

After a scrappy passage of play in which Morocco failed to clear their lines, Desire Doue poked a loose ball to Mbappe on the left edge of the area.

— Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 9 July 2026
But Ecuador’s Gonzalo Plata stuck up his left foot, just in front of Neuer, and poked the ball into the net.

— Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 27 June 2026

Definition of poked

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shills

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“Shilly-shallied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shilly-shallied. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of shilly-shallied

verb

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