definitions

RELATED CONTENT

What Does 💃 Dancer Emoji Mean?The dancer emoji is a sexy, confident woman used to tell folks that you are ready to party, are cool and carefree, or are a confident, fun loving lady. It can also indicate a general celebratory mood.
READ MORE
Spellbound: Magical History Of Harry Potter NamesRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

dally, dawdle, dodge, fluctuate, halt, hesitate, stall, trifle, vacillate, waver

Nearby words

shillelagh, shilling, shilling mark, shillong, shilluk, shilly-shally, shillyshally, shiloh, shilpit, shily, shim

Origin of shilly-shally

1690–1700; orig. repeated question, shall I? shall I? later altered on the model of its synonym dilly-dally
Related formsshil·ly-shal·li·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shilly-shally

Word Origin and History for shilly-shally

shilly-shally

v.

"to vacillate," 1782, from adverbial expression to stand shilly-shally (1703), earlier shill I, shall I (1700), a fanciful reduplication of shall I? (cf. wishy-washy, dilly-dally, etc.). From 1734 as an adjective, by 1755 as a noun. Related: Shilly-shallying (1816).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper