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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pussyfootsimple
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pussyfootssimple
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have pussyfootedperfect
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has pussyfootedperfect
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am pussyfootingprogressive
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are pussyfootingprogressive
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is pussyfootingprogressive
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have been pussyfootingperfect progressive
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has been pussyfootingperfect progressive
Past
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pussyfootedsimple
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had pussyfootedperfect
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was pussyfootingprogressive
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were pussyfootingprogressive
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had been pussyfootingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
He took me aside and said sternly, “You can’t pussyfoot it.”
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2024
“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
DDB wasn’t going to pussyfoot around for the LBJ brand just because this was politics.
From Washington Post
“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
"I'd rather have someone with no filter than someone who pussyfoots around," she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2016
"Very good, sir," and the automaton pussyfoots away.
From Young People's Pride A Novel by Benét, Stephen Vincent
"Come on, my little pussyfoots," cried Puss, Junior, with a grin.
From Puss in Boots, Jr., and the Good Gray Horse by Cory, David
I pussyfooted around the garage, checked whether there were hostages in the canteen.
From US News ● Jul. 25, 2016
For months the people and their leaders had pussyfooted around the twin horrors.
From Time Magazine Archive
One of my friends recently upgraded from a 35-foot express cruiser to a 42-foot convertible and he pussyfooted around in his new boat instead of enjoying it.
From Time Magazine Archive
Yet he has not pussyfooted against latter-day revolutionaries.
From Time Magazine Archive
He didn't go back at all till the middle of the night, when he pussyfooted in and got his things out, and disappeared like he had stumbled down a well.
From Ma Pettengill by Wilson, Harry Leon
“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.
From Reuters ● Jun. 29, 2023
Mr. DeSantis said Mr. Newsom should “stop pussyfooting around” and join the campaign.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
The problem with such pussyfooting is that its very carefulness means that it won't drive the public conversation.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2022
“What the show is doing is being brave and honest and using humor to avoid pussyfooting around. It’s allowing us to start conversations that people are uncomfortable starting,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2016
“It makes them mental, every time you bring up the adoption, or your birth parents, or anything like that. They start pussyfooting around and being so careful, like, ‘Now, Jonah .
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
