shilly-shallying 1 of 3

noun

as in hesitation
a state or an instance of temporary inaction because of uncertainty about the right course of action fortunately, during the crisis there was no shilly-shallying on the part of the president

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

shilly-shallying

2 of 3

adjective

as in ambivalent

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Dissimilar Words

shilly-shallying

3 of 3

verb

present participle of shilly-shally
1
as in hesitating
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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2
as in delaying
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shilly-shallying
  1. hesitation
  2. ambivalent
  3. hesitating
  4. delaying
  5. hesitancy
  6. random
  7. faltering
  8. lingering
Noun
  • Someone may be ready to build with you, but hesitation, mixed signals, or too many moving pieces could slow the process down.
    — Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
  • But the full game tape shows those are few and far between — his hesitation and questionable decisions make the lowlights a near-constant.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of hesitation
Adjective
  • The ensemble of actors is convincing in its naturalness, with the characterizations remaining consistently precise and ambivalent.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The powwow was more ambivalent than most Fourth of July celebrations.
    — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of ambivalent
Verb
  • Fertilizer is often bought months ahead of planting, so hesitating in the fall can mean less goes on the ground in the spring.
    — Jayash Paudel, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Cueto was known for hesitating while in his pitching motion, or wiggling on the mound.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of hesitating
Verb
  • Rural leaders will probably follow the urban practice of ensuring community input – as required by Congress – before allowing tax-delaying investments by wealthy financial backers.
    — The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 3 Sep. 2026
  • In a 2022 One Earth study of more than 47,000 people across 68 countries, researcher Kelton Minor and colleagues found that warmer nighttime temperatures shorten sleep, mostly by delaying when people fall asleep.
    — Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of delaying
Noun
  • Handy said hesitancy around the measles vaccine dates back to 2000 or even earlier.
    — Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Martone competes well, showing no hesitancy to engage physically or create at the net.
    — Corey Pronman, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of hesitancy
Adjective
  • Raman is now easily scoring off of Bass mishaps, like the mayor’s response to the Lineage warehouse fire and her random broadside against street vendors during a debate in Sherman Oaks last month.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Several Chinese research teams developed and tested the coherent routing system for bucket-brigade quantum random access memory, or QRAM, Science and Technology Daily reported on Wednesday.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of random
Verb
  • Know More Saudi Arabia has been working on several measures in a bid to boost trading volumes on the stock exchange and reenergize new stock listings that had been faltering even before the Iran war spooked investors.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The same list of conditions is relevant to the debates about our faltering literacy.
    — Christopher Coffman, The Conversation, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of faltering
Verb
  • Patterson, who turns 27 on Tuesday, has experience at guard and center, and the 49ers needed a backup at both spots considering Toth’s lingering concussion symptoms.
    — Matt Barrows, New York Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • For Green, and the Warriors (2-0), the victory eliminated any lingering doubts about their season opener last week, a thrilling, 32-26 triple-overtime win against Newbury Park.
    — Joel Beers, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of lingering
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

shilly-shally
shilly-shallying
shimmer
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Cite this Entry

“Shilly-shallying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shilly-shallying. Accessed 6 Sep. 2026.

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