shilly-shally

1 of 4

adverb

ˈshi-lē-ˌsha-lē 

: in an irresolute, undecided, or hesitating manner

shilly-shally

2 of 4

adjective

: irresolute, vacillating

shilly-shally

3 of 4

verb

shilly-shallied; shilly-shallying

intransitive verb

1

: to show hesitation or lack of decisiveness or resolution

2

: dawdle

shilly-shally

4 of 4

noun

: indecision, irresolution

Did you know?

Shall I? Shall I? When you just don't know what to do, it may feel as if asking that question twice will somehow help you decide. The 17th century saw the use of the phrase "stand shall I, shall I" to describe vacillation or indecision. By that century's end, the phrase had been altered to "shill I, shall I," most likely because people just liked the vowel alteration (that's the same process that gave us dillydally and wishy-washy). Soon after, the adverbial shilly-shally made the jump from slang to literature and writers began applying it as an adjective, a noun, and a verb as well.

Synonyms

Verb

• balance
• dither
• falter
• halt
• hang back
• hesitate
• scruple
• stagger
• teeter
• vacillate
• waver
• wobble
• wabble

Noun

• faltering
• fence-sitting
• hesitance
• hesitancy
• hesitation
• indecision
• irresolution
• pause
• shilly-shallying
• vacillation
• wavering
• wobbling
• wabbling

Examples of shilly-shally in a Sentence

Verb

I didn't shilly-shally but instead raced to the hospital as soon as I heard the news

with dinner guests due in two hours, there was no time to shilly-shally in front of the TV set

Noun

the construction project was once again delayed by the bureaucratic shilly-shally of regulatory agencies

Word History

Etymology

Adverb

irregular reduplication of shall I

First Known Use

Adverb

1700, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1734, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1754, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1755, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

shilly-shally

verb

ˈshil-ē-ˌshal-ē

shilly-shallied; shilly-shallying

: to be unable to make up one's mind : show hesitation