Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shilly-shally
First recorded in 1690–1700; originally repeated question, shall I? shall I?; later altered on the model of its synonym dilly-dally
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 did not shilly-shally in welcoming the crowd.
From New York Times ● May 18, 2010
For George Norris on the stump does not shilly-shally about getting himself elected.
From Time Magazine Archive
Whenever the German army fell into a dangerous, disorganized or shilly-shally state, we always looked for the skillful hand of .
From Time Magazine Archive
It would suit everybody; but some of our party, I am afraid, would go with them, and the Government is very shilly-shally.
From Marion Fay by Trollope, Anthony
He felt that there was to be no shilly-shally now.
From When the Cock Crows by Baily, Waldron
As the young man shilly-shallies, the father enters into several schemes to entrap him into a declaration of love; but all his schemes are abortive.
From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
The puck didn’t hover above the board, exactly, but shilly-shallied back and forth.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 9, 2016
She had shilly-shallied for a while, and then, to his rapturous surprise, she had said "Yes."
From Jane Oglander by Lowndes, Marie Belloc
If he had shilly-shallied like that, a nice mess he would have made of his life!
From The Whirligig of Time by Williams, Wayland Wells
I've shilly-shallied around you for months, protesting my love, and I haven't gotten anywhere.
From The Valley of the Giants by Kyne, Peter B. (Peter Bernard)
We talked and shilly-shallied till Sir Charles grew angry.
From An African Millionaire Episodes in the Life of the Illustrious Colonel Clay by Allen, Grant
We’ve been shilly-shallying around on this since the Eisenhower administration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2021
At a time of endless half-truths and moral shilly-shallying, Morris's eccentric integrity shines out.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 27, 2010
Red-faced and quizzical, he has upbraided the Justice Department's lawyers time & again for "shilly-shallying," "going backwards," confusing the issues and wasting the court's time.
From Time Magazine Archive
Its content was kept secret, but it was possible that the President made it clear that if Tito expected U.S. aid, there must be no more shilly-shallying.
From Time Magazine Archive
All through the season they were in each other's pockets, and during Goodwood week, after a period of sentimental shilly-shallying, they disappeared for ever and a day.
From A Crime of the Under-seas by Boothby, Guy Newell
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.
