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
“We’re not going to pussyfoot around,” he added.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 5, 2022
"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
That the Times pussyfoot while composing its stories?
From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2011
“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 Cory, David
"Very good, sir," and the automaton pussyfoots away.
From Young People's Pride A Novel by Benét, Stephen Vincent
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
Yet he has not pussyfooted against latter-day revolutionaries.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then I studied some more documents in a masterful manner and forgot my caller entirely till at last he pussyfooted out, having caught sight of Sandy down by the corral.
From Ma Pettengill by Wilson, Harry Leon
Perhaps – nah, let's stop pussyfooting and call it like it is.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2023
“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
“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
And I said, ‘Why am I pussyfooting around?’
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
