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
  • Montgomery hesitated in front of Lee before cutting inside to leave Lee one-on-one with a defender streaking toward the end zone.
    — PJ Green September 27, Kansas City Star, 27 Sep. 2026
  • The governor, however, has not hesitated to draw an unpopular president into the campaign.
    — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of hesitated
Verb
  • Trump’s proclamation would have delayed compliance with the tougher standards from 2027 until 2029, though EPA ultimately repealed them in February.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Flights are delayed, resulting in crew rest violations, maintenance schedule conflicts, cargo rerouting decisions, fuel reallocation and thousands of passenger rebooking scenarios.
    — Abha Dogra, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • He’s also faltered against the Red Sox throughout his career.
    — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Behind the scenes, former Pentagon officials described a rush to strike the deals that raised concerns about due diligence, which were heightened when a deal with rare earths startup Reelement faltered.
    — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of faltered
Verb
  • But one of them, perhaps too slow, or too confused, lingered a second longer, and the claw opened and snapped shut.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Inside a Brazilian stadium Sunday, the same question lingered as two NFL kickers took turns lining up for potential game-winning field goals.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of lingered
Verb
  • Graham also dragged a shimmery charcoal hue from her outer corner to her inner corner to accent her bottom line.
    — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Grossman said that as the Iran war dragged on, Washington started to divert weapons and munitions from the Asia-Pacific region to sustain the war against Tehran.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • The technology isn’t perfect, Walsh said; if Gus had crawled beneath a bush to sleep, the camera wouldn’t necessarily find him.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Suki, who had been with her new family only a few weeks, had crawled into an opening in an entertainment center cabinet and could not get out.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • Gray-green eyes poked up from its small, round shell, which was the color of sand, and its legs made a soft, scuttling sound.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Flip and continue to cook until the flesh begins to flake when poked with a fork, 1 to 2 minutes.
    — Kate Williams, AJC.com, 21 Sep. 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 2 Oct. 2026.

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