shillyshally
Britishverb
adverb
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- shillyshallier noun
Etymology
Origin of shillyshally
C18: from shill I shall I, by reduplication of shall I
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.
Margaret sympathized with him; but Theodore, after a long shillyshally, enlisted, muttering all the catchwords of the day.
From Time Magazine Archive
A Minute's Wait, the longest and best of the lot, is a back-thwacking, shillyshally riot of slapstick.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thereupon she did what Susan Anthony, no believer in shillyshally, would have heartily approved: she took a hammer, smashed half her statuary, called in the press.
From Time Magazine Archive
Then a lot of shillyshally usually followed, Tom for and Dick and Harry against.
From Ulysses by Joyce, James
What if he were to shillyshally when prompt action was urgent!
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, 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.
