pussyfoot

[poos-ee-foot]

verb (used without object)

1. to go or move in a stealthy or cautious manner.

2. to act cautiously or timidly, as if afraid to commit oneself on a point at issue.

   Synonyms: straddle, sidestep, dodge, hedge

noun

plural

pussyfoots 

1. a person with a catlike, or soft and stealthy, tread.

2. Chiefly British.,  a teetotaler or prohibitionist.

pussyfoot

/ ˈpʊsɪˌfʊt /

verb

1. to move about stealthily or warily like a cat

2. to avoid committing oneself

noun

1. a person who pussyfoots

Word History and Origins

Origin of pussyfoot¹

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95; pussy ¹ + foot

Example Sentences

He took me aside and said sternly, “You can’t pussyfoot it.”

Read more on Salon

“I tried to pussyfoot around it, I tried to break up with her,” Wade told sports commentator Shannon Sharpe in a recirculated clip from his June interview on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Perhaps – nah, let's stop pussyfooting and call it like it is.

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“The government is pussyfooting around the ESM, which is a very, very small piece in a much larger problem that has to do with overall European economic governance,” he said.

Read more on Reuters

California’s governor retorted, posting a video of Mr. DeSantis at a podium apparently glancing down at a crib sheet before making the “pussyfooting” challenge.

Read more on New York Times