tiptoe
Americannoun
-
tiptoes
plural
verb (used without object)
-
tiptoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tiptoed,
past participle, past
-
tiptoeing
present participle
adjective
-
characterized by standing or walking on tiptoe.
-
straining upward.
-
eagerly expectant.
-
cautious; stealthy.
adverb
idioms
verb
-
to walk with the heels off the ground and the weight supported by the ball of the foot and the toes
-
to walk silently or stealthily
noun
adverb
adjective
-
walking or standing on tiptoe
-
stealthy or silent
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tiptoesimple
-
tiptoessimple
-
have tiptoedperfect
-
has tiptoedperfect
-
am tiptoeingprogressive
-
are tiptoeingprogressive
-
is tiptoeingprogressive
-
have been tiptoeingperfect progressive
-
has been tiptoeingperfect progressive
Past
-
tiptoedsimple
-
had tiptoedperfect
-
was tiptoeingprogressive
-
were tiptoeingprogressive
-
had been tiptoeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tiptoe
1350–1400; Middle English tiptoon (plural noun). See tip 1, toe
Explanation
To tiptoe is to walk with your weight on your toes, moving quietly. If you're late to your yoga class and everyone's lying still with their eyes closed, you may want to tiptoe to your mat. You can also use tiptoe as a noun or an adjective: "She had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the cabinet where the cookies are kept." Figuratively, you tiptoe when you avoid a certain topic: "There's no need to tiptoe around the subject of money—I don't mind talking about it." The variation tippy toes dates from the early 1800s.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When Eucharistic ministers moved through aisles to distribute Communion, they had to tiptoe around knees and handbags.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
Put all together, investors may remain understandably uneasy about the topic, even if they start to tiptoe back into oversold areas.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
Barabak: You’re having me tiptoe uncomfortably close to the Make A Prediction Zone, which I assiduously avoid.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2026
We tiptoe around finances because we’ve been programmed by society to link our personal value to our financial status.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026
On tiptoe, I edged along the wall, heading for the main staircase.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
That mordant humor, however enjoyable, tiptoes around the unanswerable question of how, or even whether, we can tell the difference between cosplay and the real thing.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
Tamma tiptoes “up climbs with body english and devious footwork”; she clings to fingerholds the size of molars; a fall sees her come “cheesegrating” down a slab.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Behind them, a slim figure reaches up on tiptoes, but the 1-month pad is still out of her reach.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025
"The team approached this work almost on their tiptoes," he tells me.
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2024
Ella stretched up on her tiptoes to have a closer look.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Goddard has tiptoed into using AI to draft opinions, with her oversight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026
And when asked, twice, whether he thought rates were high enough to bring inflation fully under control, he twice tiptoed around the question.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2024
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tiptoed less than 0.1% lower to 38,892.80, while the Nasdaq composite inched 5 points higher to 16,253.96.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
As he tiptoed round the thorny issue of why Manchester City are so much better than Manchester United, Pep Guardiola was careful to be both respectful and protective of fellow manager Erik ten Hag.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2023
Shortly after eleven o'clock, Jeremy tiptoed out of his room carrying the box, the scroll, the bag of teeth, and a flashlight.
From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville
Any hope Gianni Infantino might have had of tiptoeing away from the scene of his World Cup private-investment wreckage having sustained only minor damage to his reputation disappeared on Saturday.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
And so looking back, you can see how I was tiptoeing around and it took a little moment before they really let me just let what my instincts were telling me to do, fly.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Goldman board members and partners had grown accustomed to tiptoeing around the topic of Ruemmler and Epstein in front of Solomon, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Investors tiptoeing back into Chinese stocks may want to consider companies that would benefit both from the rise of AI and a potential effort by Beijing to boost consumption.
From Barron's ● Dec. 27, 2025
He’s tiptoeing around the trunk, creeping up on lizards as best he can.
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
