shilly-shally

shil·ly-shal·ly

 (shĭl′ē-shăl′ē)

intr.v. shil·ly-shal·lied (-lēd), shil·ly-shal·ly·ing, shil·ly-shal·lies (-lēz)

1. To procrastinate.

2. To be unable to come to a decision; vacillate.

3. To spend time on insignificant things; dawdle.

adj.

Hesitant; vacillating.

n. pl. shil·ly-shal·lies

Procrastination; hesitation.

adv.

In a hesitant manner; irresolutely.

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[Reduplication of the question shall I?]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

shil•ly-shal•ly

(ˈʃɪl iˌʃæl i)

v. -shal•lied, -shal•ly•ing, v.i.

1. to show indecision or hesitation; vacillate.

2. to waste time.

n.

3. indecision; vacillation.

adj.

4. undecided; wavering.

[1690–1700; orig. repeated question, shall I? shall I? later altered on the model of its synonym dilly-dally]

shil′ly-shal`li•er, n.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

shilly-shally

Past participle: shilly-shallied
Gerund: shilly-shallying

Imperative

shilly-shally

shilly-shally

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

shilly-shally

verb

To be irresolute in acting or doing:

dither, falter, halt, hesitate, pause, stagger, vacillate, waver, wobble.

adjective

Given to or exhibiting hesitation:

halting, hesitant, indecisive, irresolute, pendulous, tentative, timid, vacillant, vacillatory.

noun

The act of hesitating or state of being hesitant:

hesitancy, hesitation, indecision, indecisiveness, irresoluteness, irresolution, pause, tentativeness, timidity, timidness, to-and-fro, vacillation.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

shilly-shally

[ˈʃɪlɪˌʃælɪ] VI → vacilar, titubear

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

shilly-shally

[ˈʃɪliʃæli] vi → tergiverser, atermoyer

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

shilly-shally

vi (esp Brit inf) → unschlüssig sein; stop shilly-shallying → lass das Fackeln; you’ve shilly-shallied long enough → du hast lange genug gezögert

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007