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

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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
  • When asked if Airbnbs are legal at The Club, Alvarez hesitated.
    — Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 16 July 2026
  • The French back line hesitated for a brief second, anticipating a potential foul, but Porro pressed the advantage and side-footed a shot past Mike Maignan in the 58th minute for the backbreaking goal.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 July 2026
Definition of hesitated
Verb
  • Eckert was interviewed again earlier this month after the process was initially delayed, with Southampton’s head coach back in Germany and recently becoming a father.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • Gen Alphas seem to know almost immediately when something is fake, overproduced, delayed or culturally disconnected, which is why the strongest content right now often feels chaotic.
    — Kelly Samuel, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • For example, a manufacturer drowning in unplanned downtime deployed an AI agent to dispatch maintenance the moment a machine faltered.
    — Sanjay Brahmawar, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • Last year at world championships, Ingebrigtsen faltered in a preliminary heat while Kerr pulled up lame and limped into the finish in a final won by Issac Nader of Portugal.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 July 2026
Definition of faltered
Verb
  • Events ranging from a baby parade in Flint, Michigan, to a rock concert in Herndon, Virginia, and the America’s Mile marathon in Pittsburgh were canceled Friday as smoke lingered.
    — Dalia Faheid, CNN Money, 18 July 2026
  • But concerns have lingered, especially after major wins on contracts involving US government policy or actions.
    — Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 16 July 2026
Definition of lingered
Verb
  • Who dragged bags of footballs onto the field before practice?
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 24 July 2026
  • While that shutdown ostensibly ended in mid-November, a partial government shutdown dragged on through April, snarling the Department of Homeland Security and causing long delays and confusion at airports across the country.
    — Drew Pittock, USA Today, 23 July 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • Flash flood warnings were then issued again for New York City and nearby states as thunderstorms crawled across the region on Tuesday afternoon and evening.
    — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 23 July 2026
  • 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
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • Before McDaniel’s first NFL game, one Vikings defender aggressively poked his left eye in practice.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 24 July 2026
  • It’s now understood that Russia in 2016 poked the election systems in all 50 states to check what protections were in place and accessed—but did not change—some very local registration rosters in Florida and Illinois.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 17 July 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 26 Jul. 2026.

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