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
  • 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
  • Those motivations, and the curiosity behind them, have lingered with me years later.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 6 July 2026
  • Some disappointed fans lingered near the barricades and boundaries police had set up and were enforcing.
    — Meriam Bouarrouj, NBC news, 4 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
  • So, while the Dodgers crawled out of the hole with a season-high 17 hits, the steep cost heightens the pressure on the rest of the rotation the rest of the series.
    — Liana Handler Follow, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
  • Unlike text or images, robotic manipulation data cannot be crawled from the internet.
    — Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • 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
  • In the third round, Magomedov poked Pereira in the eye, forcing a roughly two-minute pause, and still no point came off.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 27 June 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.

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Cite this Entry

“Shilly-shallied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shilly-shallied. Accessed 11 Jul. 2026.

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