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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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
  • Incumbents hesitated, but young and diverse civic-minded men and women jumped at a chance to compete on a level playing field for state offices.
    — Elona Vaisnys, Hartford Courant, 9 Aug. 2026
  • When Kimmel hesitated when guessing Spaghetti & Meatball, Affleck and Ding called upon Ding’s trivia partner Stephen Morrison, who opted not to answer.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 30 July 2026
Definition of hesitated
Verb
  • The game was delayed 88 minutes by rain in the eighth inning.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The Braves lost to the Twins, 4-2, in the series opener, a game delayed 51 minutes because of inclement weather and then began with an opening frame that probably had Braves faithful wishing there’d been a lengthier postponement.
    — Gabriel Burns, AJC.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • But their turnout in Broward, the state’s last big remaining Democratic stronghold, faltered.
    — Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Summary The Philadelphia Phillies' 2026 season hopes for their back-end rotation and bullpen have faltered, prompting a search for pitching upgrades.
    — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of faltered
Verb
  • Kannan’s ability to manage so many characters while developing them all sufficiently to feel vivid and real … The ending has lingered in my mind long after the final page.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Giants manager Tony Vitello lingered in the dugout after the game and watched as Wilkinson’s crew gave him a rousing cheer.
    — Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of lingered
Verb
  • In one case, agents in Bowie, Maryland, smashed a father’s car window, dragged him out, and pinned him to the ground — while his 6-, 7-, and 8-year-old children watched from the back seat.
    — Arlene Marcus, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
  • As power outages in northwest Indiana dragged on for over a week, Alyssa Casalin said her 2-month-old boy grew increasingly restless.
    — Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • To compile as comprehensive a list as possible, Szydlowski crawled Instagram and Reddit for photos of people wearing different types of smart glasses.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2026
  • As the whole team fought for their lives, Yerman, one of the only Marines with relatively minor wounds, crawled over to Capers.
    — Ethan Rocke, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • Over the past few years, a steady increase has been reported of workers getting poked by needles in the trash.
    — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Benson later had a pass poked out by Texans corner Tremon Smith.
    — Sam Warren, New York Times, 21 Aug. 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
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shilly-shallied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shilly-shallied. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of devolve

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All