shilly-shallies

verb

present tense third-person singular of shilly-shally
1
as in hesitates
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 delays
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-shallies
  1. hesitates
  2. delays
  3. falters
  4. lingers
  5. crawls
  6. drags
  7. pokes
Verb
  • If someone hesitates, gently restate the goal and offer one reasonable option while staying loyal to your own needs.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 6 July 2026
  • In Spearfish, Yu hesitates over a set of cow grates and dumps her bike at low velocity.
    — Ashlea Halpern, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 July 2026
Definition of hesitates
Verb
  • The person who delays repayment may create tension, even if unintentionally.
    — Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • Chief Estella Patterson told committee members officers have a hard time determining the exact age of juveniles without an ID, which delays the investigation and prolongs police interactions.
    — Nick Sullivan, Charlotte Observer, 14 July 2026
Definition of delays
Verb
  • While the federal government remains indispensable in public health, these state-level collaborations demonstrated that regional governance can emerge quickly when national leadership falters.
    — John Eger, Mercury News, 17 July 2026
  • The system implemented by the National Weather Service falters mathematically when both the temperature and humidity are particularly high.
    — Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 3 July 2026
Definition of falters
Verb
  • Vinha dos Utras is extremely dry, with hints of gunpowder and salinity, and very fresh, with an acidity that lingers.
    — Forbes.com, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • Lee builds a drone that simply lingers in the background, moving the way a morning breeze might, then plays against it.
    — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 20 July 2026
Definition of lingers
Verb
  • Footage of the moment shows Menitoff acting as if nothing is happening as the bug crawls on her.
    — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 16 July 2026
  • Seltz’s system crawls hundreds of millions of pages a day, and returns results in under 200 milliseconds.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 24 June 2026
Definition of crawls
Verb
  • The revision came amid scrutiny of the administration’s handling of casualty data as the Middle East conflict drags on.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 24 July 2026
  • Raimundo Orsi, Italy vs Czechoslovakia, 1934 Orsi drags Italy level with nine minutes to go, controlling a bouncing ball and turning superbly in the box to fire past Czech goalkeeper and captain Frantisek Planicka.
    — Adam Hurrey, New York Times, 17 July 2026
Definition of drags
Verb
  • As Hogi pokes a hole in this plot and shatters the industrial love complex we’ve been sold song after song, movie after movie, the workplace version of this unhealthy relationship presents a familiar parallel.
    — Dr. Marcus Collins, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
  • Perched on a finger of land that pokes into Lebanon, Metula is usually crowded with tourists this time of year.
    — Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 23 June 2026
Definition of pokes
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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shilly-shallied
shilly-shallies
shilly-shally
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Cite this Entry

“Shilly-shallies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shilly-shallies. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.

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