shilly-shally
[shil-ee-shal-ee]
- to show indecision or hesitation; be irresolute; vacillate.
- to waste time; dawdle.
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- irresolution; indecision; vacillation: It was sheer shilly-shally on his part.
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- irresolute; undecided; vacillating.
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Origin of shilly-shally
1690–1700; orig. repeated question, shall I? shall I? later altered on the model of its synonym dilly-dally
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for shillyshally
hesitate, dawdle, waffle, seesaw, waver, fluctuate, dither, oscillate, differ, divide, modify, diverge, range, diversify, alter, distrust, suspect, impugn, rotate, varyExamples from the Web for shillyshally
Historical Examples of shillyshally
You've got to shillyshally, and then you've got to go it blind.
April HopesWilliam Dean Howells
Then a lot of shillyshally usually followed, Tom for and Dick and Harry against.
UlyssesJames Joyce
shillyshally
- (intr) to be indecisive, esp over unimportant matters; hesitate
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- in an indecisive manner
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- indecisive or hesitant
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- indecision or hesitation; vacillation
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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
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Word Origin and History for shillyshally
shilly-shally
"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).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper