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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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

Meanwhile, Air France-KLM has suspended flights to Riyadh until 31 October and Delta Air Lines has delayed planned services from Atlanta to Riyadh, initially due to start on October 23, until March 2027.

— Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2026
Stringer | Reuters Delta Air Lines delayed the launch of its nonstop service between Atlanta and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, following recent attacks on the capital city's airport.

— Alex Harring, CNBC, 13 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

That figure declined to 12% as the pandemic lingered in 2021 and to about 3% in 2024.

— David Wickert, AJC.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Wallace lingered in the car for a few minutes once slowing to a stop, though — long enough for health workers to unload a stretcher that Wallace ultimately didn’t use.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of lingered

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

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

Style

“Shilly-shallied.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shilly-shallied. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of shilly-shallied

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

compunction

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes