shilly-shally
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.
See Examples For:
He did not shilly-shally in welcoming the crowd.
From New York Times ● May 18, 2010
Whenever the German army fell into a dangerous, disorganized or shilly-shally state, we always looked for the skillful hand of .
From Time Magazine Archive
For George Norris on the stump does not shilly-shally about getting himself elected.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Can I help it if they dally and shilly-shally until our patience is worn out?" asked the young Deputy vehemently.
From Success and How He Won It by E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers) Werner
Clovis, the shilly-shally, must henceforth be excluded from a hand in the management of affairs.
From The Maid of Honour (Vol. 3 of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Lewis Wingfield
As the young man shilly-shallies, the father enters into several schemes to entrap him into a declaration of love; but all his schemes are abortive.
From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook, Vol. 3 by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
The puck didn’t hover above the board, exactly, but shilly-shallied back and forth.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 9, 2016
If he had shilly-shallied and hummed and hawed about the scandal, it would have been so much more unpleasant for her.
From The Loudwater Mystery by Edgar Jepson
If he had shilly-shallied like that, a nice mess he would have made of his life!
From The Whirligig of Time by Wayland Wells Williams
Now that he shilly-shallied no longer, his native spirits had come back to him.
From My Lords of Strogue Vol. III, (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Lewis Wingfield
They shilly-shallied, and wrote endless letters—and at last they sent him off—the day she died.
From Helbeck of Bannisdale — Volume I by Mrs. Humphry Ward
We’ve been shilly-shallying around on this since the Eisenhower administration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2021
At a time of endless half-truths and moral shilly-shallying, Morris's eccentric integrity shines out.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 27, 2010
President, whom they nominated without shilly-shallying, would be Arkansas' Democratic Governor Orval E. Faubus.
From Time Magazine Archive
We'll share the responsibility for government policy, but we won't share in shilly-shallying.
From Time Magazine Archive
Just for one moment Larry was inclined to end this shilly-shallying by brute determination.
From At the Crossroads by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock
