Dictionary.com
definitions

RELATED WORDS

hesitate, dawdle, waffle, seesaw, waver, fluctuate, dither, oscillate, differ, divide, modify, diverge, range, diversify, alter, distrust, suspect, impugn, rotate, vary

Nearby words

  1. shillelagh,
  2. shilling,
  3. shilling mark,
  4. shillong,
  5. shilluk,
  6. shillyshally,
  7. shiloh,
  8. shilpit,
  9. shily,
  10. 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 shillyshally

  • You've got to shillyshally, and then you've got to go it blind.

    April Hopes|William Dean Howells

  • Then a lot of shillyshally usually followed, Tom for and Dick and Harry against.

    Ulysses|James Joyce
British Dictionary definitions for shillyshally

shillyshally

verb -lies, -lying or -lied

(intr) to be indecisive, esp over unimportant matters; hesitate

adverb

in an indecisive manner

adjective

indecisive or hesitant

noun plural -lies

indecision or hesitation; vacillation
Derived Formsshillyshallier, noun

Word Origin for shillyshally

C18: from shill I shall I, by reduplication of shall I
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for shillyshally

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