pussyfoot
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
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a person with a catlike, or soft and stealthy, tread.
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Chiefly British. a teetotaler or prohibitionist.
verb
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to move about stealthily or warily like a cat
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to avoid committing oneself
noun
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has pussyfootedperfect 3rd person singular
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have pussyfootedperfect
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have been pussyfootingperfect progressive
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is pussyfootingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am pussyfootingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been pussyfootingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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pussyfootingparticiple
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are pussyfootingprogressive
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pussyfootssingular 3rd person
Past
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had pussyfootedperfect
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were pussyfootingprogressive plural
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was pussyfootingprogressive singular
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pussyfootedparticiple
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had been pussyfootingperfect progressive
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pussyfootedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of pussyfoot
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.
He took me aside and said sternly, “You can’t pussyfoot it.”
From Salon • Sep. 22, 2024
“We’re not going to pussyfoot around,” he added.
From Washington Post • Jun. 5, 2022
“I don’t want to pussyfoot anymore,” said Marie Harris, a former state poet laureate.
From Slate • Jul. 18, 2019
"Sometimes there isn't time to pussyfoot around," said John Couch, a 50-year-old self-employed party planner, explaining why he thought Trump's directness could help the country.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 27, 2015
“It was until I dropped the bottle, it broke on the floor, and everybody had to pussyfoot around the floor so they wouldn’t get cut by the broken glass,” I said.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions 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.
