pussyfoot
Americanverb (used without object)
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pussyfoots,
present (3rd person singular)
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pussyfooted,
past participle, past
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pussyfooting
present participle
noun
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pussyfoots
plural
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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
“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
"I'd rather have someone with no filter than someone who pussyfoots around," she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2016
"Come on, my little pussyfoots," cried Puss, Junior, with a grin.
From Puss in Boots, Jr., and the Good Gray Horse by David Cory
"Very good, sir," and the automaton pussyfoots away.
From Young People's Pride A Novel by Stephen Vincent Benét
I pussyfooted around the garage, checked whether there were hostages in the canteen.
From US News ● Jul. 25, 2016
I have sidled, tiptoed, pussyfooted, perhaps even slunk.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sergeant Roy Hooe pussyfooted along the slim runway leading to the spewing machine, did some windy tinkering.
From Time Magazine Archive
For months the people and their leaders had pussyfooted around the twin horrors.
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 Harry Leon Wilson
“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
The less confrontational dishes, like salt-cod fish sticks draped with fried green peppers, or grilled pork collar facing a crowd of minted peas, aren’t pussyfooting around, either.
From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2021
And I said, ‘Why am I pussyfooting around?’
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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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.
