Definition of shilly-shally in English:

shilly-shally

verbshilly-shallies, shilly-shallied, shilly-shallying ˈʃɪlɪʃaliˈʃɪliˌʃæli

[no object]

Fail to act resolutely or decisively.
the government shilly-shallied about the matter
Example sentencesExamples
- That the government has been weak and shilly-shallying, that the public are dupes and the farmers paying the price seems to me to be very much in the current run of things.
- ‘They then started shilly-shallying,’ she said.
- Though many of them were shilly-shallying to come to the stage, some were sportive enough to take part.
- No native in this group shilly-shallies with milestones in life such as who to marry and what career to choose.
- Not even knowing to write the alphabets, he can read newspapers flawlessly without shilly-shallying, no matter how tough the word is.
- Her lobster is warm, which is reason enough not to shilly-shally with it, and my crustaceans are chilled, which I too do not want to compromise.
- You know, you can shilly-shally around, but if you want your players to win then you have to give them everything you can.
- But I don't believe in shilly-shallying around.
- There are people out there willing to be tested, who do not shilly-shally and stall.
- Does it mean that you shilly-shallied about giving them the full document?
- I think the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have shilly-shallied around this for far too long.
- There's no point shilly-shallying about the shallows, you've got to wade into the deep area.
- However, I have been shilly-shallying, due to the cramped space of my flat and the densely inhabited area where I reside.
- I think Michael felt the same because we dawdled and shilly-shallied about; enjoying the freedom rather than getting on with the journey.
Synonyms
dither, be indecisive/irresolute, be undecided, be uncertain, be unsure, be doubtful, vacillate, waver, teeter, hesitate, oscillate, fluctuate, falter, drag one's feet
British haver, hum and haw
Scottish swither
informal dilly-dally, blow hot and cold, sit on the fence

noun ˈʃɪlɪʃaliˈʃɪliˌʃæli

mass noun

Indecisive behaviour.
a no-nonsense lack of shilly-shally
Example sentencesExamples
- The Government's shilly-shallying and reluctance to act only led to thousands of disputes simply getting out of control.
- Yet all we are hearing here, in her fourth year as Minister, is all this delay and dilly-dallying and shilly-shallying.
- At which point we wondered why the whole economy didn't just base itself on the dollar, and cut out all of this shilly-shallying.
- He had had enough of the shilly-shallying that now dominates the game's upper echelons.
- After nine months of shilly-shallying, the Vice President and his operatives have failed to bluff the General Account Office.
- This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd.
- He is now getting credit on the campaign trail for avoiding that kind of shilly-shallying and just arguing that the war was a bad idea in any case.
- No shilly-shallying: just determination and a no-nonsense approach to hitting the enemy and hitting him hard.
- He said he wouldn't negotiate with North Korea, but after a year of shilly-shallying he began quietly doing exactly that.
- Taxpayers, of course, have to pay for this shilly-shallying, directly in extra pay for legislators and through indirect costs.
- The three girlfriends are chiefly excuses for Bobby's shilly-shallying, so we get glaring patches of clashing color revolving around a colorless blob.
- Other peoples' shilly-shallying could strain the not superabundant supply of Aquarian patience this week, but over-reacting won't serve your purposes.
- One result of this shilly-shallying is that much of the talk about liberty becomes a self-serving charade.
- Any shilly-shallying on that front would be dealt with swiftly and effectively by the ladies in the back kitchen.
- These and other policies have been damaged by backtracking, U-turns, watering down and general shilly-shallying.
- We can live with either, but this kind of shilly-shallying only serves to destabilize the industry and diminish the game.
- He hesitated to accept, but his forceful wife was having none of this shilly-shallying and telegraphed from America, ‘Do not procrastinate’.
- No amount of shilly-shallying and wishy-washy arguments from the police will convince me that in some areas the police are simply not achieving the results we want them to achieve.
- She cut through all the silly shilly-shallying by pointing out that the broadcaster pursued an agenda of ‘internationalism, multi-culturalism and political correctness’.
- But it was so thrilling to be around someone who's been making films for so long that they know exactly what they want and how they want their world to look that there's no shilly-shallying.

Derivatives

shilly-shallyer

noun

I'm ignoring all the recycled sentiments and reminding the shilly-shalliers that greater minds than theirs would be deemed by today's craven consensus as ‘prurient’ and ‘voyeuristic’.
Example sentencesExamples
- The author has it in for politicians, liberals, student activists, pinkos and shilly-shallyers.
- Thus, all Lawful and/or Good individuals are utterly beneath contempt while all those with any Neutral component are negligible shilly-shallyers.
- They opted instead for a policy of ‘splitting’ whereby the chaff of shilly-shallyers and equivocators could be shorn away to leave a core group of those absolutely committed to revolution at all costs.
- Apparently it is for ne'er do wells and shilly-shalliers.
- It is the shilly-shalliers who have contributed most to the present deplorable state of your society.

Origin

Mid 18th century: originally as shill I, shall I, reduplication of shall I?.

People unable to make up their minds whether to do something are likely to ask themselves ‘Shall I?’ repeatedly. With the rhyming impulse also seen in dilly-dally (early 17th century) (dally came from the French for ‘to chat’ in the Middle Ages) and willy-nilly, people in the 18th century mocked this tendency by expanding it to ‘shill I, shall I?’, and so shilly-shally was born.

Definition of shilly-shally in US English:

shilly-shally

verbˈSHilēˌSHalēˈʃɪliˌʃæli

[no object]

Fail to act resolutely or decisively.
the government shilly-shallied about the matter
Example sentencesExamples
- Does it mean that you shilly-shallied about giving them the full document?
- There's no point shilly-shallying about the shallows, you've got to wade into the deep area.
- Not even knowing to write the alphabets, he can read newspapers flawlessly without shilly-shallying, no matter how tough the word is.
- I think Michael felt the same because we dawdled and shilly-shallied about; enjoying the freedom rather than getting on with the journey.
- You know, you can shilly-shally around, but if you want your players to win then you have to give them everything you can.
- But I don't believe in shilly-shallying around.
- Her lobster is warm, which is reason enough not to shilly-shally with it, and my crustaceans are chilled, which I too do not want to compromise.
- There are people out there willing to be tested, who do not shilly-shally and stall.
- However, I have been shilly-shallying, due to the cramped space of my flat and the densely inhabited area where I reside.
- No native in this group shilly-shallies with milestones in life such as who to marry and what career to choose.
- I think the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have shilly-shallied around this for far too long.
- That the government has been weak and shilly-shallying, that the public are dupes and the farmers paying the price seems to me to be very much in the current run of things.
- ‘They then started shilly-shallying,’ she said.
- Though many of them were shilly-shallying to come to the stage, some were sportive enough to take part.
Synonyms
dither, be indecisive, be irresolute, be undecided, be uncertain, be unsure, be doubtful, vacillate, waver, teeter, hesitate, oscillate, fluctuate, falter, drag one's feet

nounˈSHilēˌSHalēˈʃɪliˌʃæli

Indecisive behavior.
Example sentencesExamples
- He had had enough of the shilly-shallying that now dominates the game's upper echelons.
- The Government's shilly-shallying and reluctance to act only led to thousands of disputes simply getting out of control.
- He hesitated to accept, but his forceful wife was having none of this shilly-shallying and telegraphed from America, ‘Do not procrastinate’.
- But it was so thrilling to be around someone who's been making films for so long that they know exactly what they want and how they want their world to look that there's no shilly-shallying.
- Other peoples' shilly-shallying could strain the not superabundant supply of Aquarian patience this week, but over-reacting won't serve your purposes.
- No amount of shilly-shallying and wishy-washy arguments from the police will convince me that in some areas the police are simply not achieving the results we want them to achieve.
- No shilly-shallying: just determination and a no-nonsense approach to hitting the enemy and hitting him hard.
- She cut through all the silly shilly-shallying by pointing out that the broadcaster pursued an agenda of ‘internationalism, multi-culturalism and political correctness’.
- One result of this shilly-shallying is that much of the talk about liberty becomes a self-serving charade.
- Yet all we are hearing here, in her fourth year as Minister, is all this delay and dilly-dallying and shilly-shallying.
- This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd.
- He said he wouldn't negotiate with North Korea, but after a year of shilly-shallying he began quietly doing exactly that.
- At which point we wondered why the whole economy didn't just base itself on the dollar, and cut out all of this shilly-shallying.
- Any shilly-shallying on that front would be dealt with swiftly and effectively by the ladies in the back kitchen.
- The three girlfriends are chiefly excuses for Bobby's shilly-shallying, so we get glaring patches of clashing color revolving around a colorless blob.
- He is now getting credit on the campaign trail for avoiding that kind of shilly-shallying and just arguing that the war was a bad idea in any case.
- We can live with either, but this kind of shilly-shallying only serves to destabilize the industry and diminish the game.
- Taxpayers, of course, have to pay for this shilly-shallying, directly in extra pay for legislators and through indirect costs.
- These and other policies have been damaged by backtracking, U-turns, watering down and general shilly-shallying.
- After nine months of shilly-shallying, the Vice President and his operatives have failed to bluff the General Account Office.

Origin

Mid 18th century: originally as shill I, shall I, reduplication of shall I?.

单词	shilly-shally
释义	Definition of shilly-shally in English: shilly-shally verbshilly-shallies, shilly-shallied, shilly-shallying ˈʃɪlɪʃaliˈʃɪliˌʃæli [no object] Fail to act resolutely or decisively. the government shilly-shallied about the matter Example sentencesExamples That the government has been weak and shilly-shallying, that the public are dupes and the farmers paying the price seems to me to be very much in the current run of things. ‘They then started shilly-shallying,’ she said. Though many of them were shilly-shallying to come to the stage, some were sportive enough to take part. No native in this group shilly-shallies with milestones in life such as who to marry and what career to choose. Not even knowing to write the alphabets, he can read newspapers flawlessly without shilly-shallying, no matter how tough the word is. Her lobster is warm, which is reason enough not to shilly-shally with it, and my crustaceans are chilled, which I too do not want to compromise. You know, you can shilly-shally around, but if you want your players to win then you have to give them everything you can. But I don't believe in shilly-shallying around. There are people out there willing to be tested, who do not shilly-shally and stall. Does it mean that you shilly-shallied about giving them the full document? I think the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have shilly-shallied around this for far too long. There's no point shilly-shallying about the shallows, you've got to wade into the deep area. However, I have been shilly-shallying, due to the cramped space of my flat and the densely inhabited area where I reside. I think Michael felt the same because we dawdled and shilly-shallied about; enjoying the freedom rather than getting on with the journey. Synonyms dither, be indecisive/irresolute, be undecided, be uncertain, be unsure, be doubtful, vacillate, waver, teeter, hesitate, oscillate, fluctuate, falter, drag one's feet British haver, hum and haw Scottish swither informal dilly-dally, blow hot and cold, sit on the fence noun ˈʃɪlɪʃaliˈʃɪliˌʃæli mass noun Indecisive behaviour. a no-nonsense lack of shilly-shally Example sentencesExamples The Government's shilly-shallying and reluctance to act only led to thousands of disputes simply getting out of control. Yet all we are hearing here, in her fourth year as Minister, is all this delay and dilly-dallying and shilly-shallying. At which point we wondered why the whole economy didn't just base itself on the dollar, and cut out all of this shilly-shallying. He had had enough of the shilly-shallying that now dominates the game's upper echelons. After nine months of shilly-shallying, the Vice President and his operatives have failed to bluff the General Account Office. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd. He is now getting credit on the campaign trail for avoiding that kind of shilly-shallying and just arguing that the war was a bad idea in any case. No shilly-shallying: just determination and a no-nonsense approach to hitting the enemy and hitting him hard. He said he wouldn't negotiate with North Korea, but after a year of shilly-shallying he began quietly doing exactly that. Taxpayers, of course, have to pay for this shilly-shallying, directly in extra pay for legislators and through indirect costs. The three girlfriends are chiefly excuses for Bobby's shilly-shallying, so we get glaring patches of clashing color revolving around a colorless blob. Other peoples' shilly-shallying could strain the not superabundant supply of Aquarian patience this week, but over-reacting won't serve your purposes. One result of this shilly-shallying is that much of the talk about liberty becomes a self-serving charade. Any shilly-shallying on that front would be dealt with swiftly and effectively by the ladies in the back kitchen. These and other policies have been damaged by backtracking, U-turns, watering down and general shilly-shallying. We can live with either, but this kind of shilly-shallying only serves to destabilize the industry and diminish the game. He hesitated to accept, but his forceful wife was having none of this shilly-shallying and telegraphed from America, ‘Do not procrastinate’. No amount of shilly-shallying and wishy-washy arguments from the police will convince me that in some areas the police are simply not achieving the results we want them to achieve. She cut through all the silly shilly-shallying by pointing out that the broadcaster pursued an agenda of ‘internationalism, multi-culturalism and political correctness’. But it was so thrilling to be around someone who's been making films for so long that they know exactly what they want and how they want their world to look that there's no shilly-shallying. Derivatives shilly-shallyer noun I'm ignoring all the recycled sentiments and reminding the shilly-shalliers that greater minds than theirs would be deemed by today's craven consensus as ‘prurient’ and ‘voyeuristic’. Example sentencesExamples The author has it in for politicians, liberals, student activists, pinkos and shilly-shallyers. Thus, all Lawful and/or Good individuals are utterly beneath contempt while all those with any Neutral component are negligible shilly-shallyers. They opted instead for a policy of ‘splitting’ whereby the chaff of shilly-shallyers and equivocators could be shorn away to leave a core group of those absolutely committed to revolution at all costs. Apparently it is for ne'er do wells and shilly-shalliers. It is the shilly-shalliers who have contributed most to the present deplorable state of your society. Origin Mid 18th century: originally as shill I, shall I, reduplication of shall I?. People unable to make up their minds whether to do something are likely to ask themselves ‘Shall I?’ repeatedly. With the rhyming impulse also seen in dilly-dally (early 17th century) (dally came from the French for ‘to chat’ in the Middle Ages) and willy-nilly, people in the 18th century mocked this tendency by expanding it to ‘shill I, shall I?’, and so shilly-shally was born. Definition of shilly-shally in US English: shilly-shally verbˈSHilēˌSHalēˈʃɪliˌʃæli [no object] Fail to act resolutely or decisively. the government shilly-shallied about the matter Example sentencesExamples Does it mean that you shilly-shallied about giving them the full document? There's no point shilly-shallying about the shallows, you've got to wade into the deep area. Not even knowing to write the alphabets, he can read newspapers flawlessly without shilly-shallying, no matter how tough the word is. I think Michael felt the same because we dawdled and shilly-shallied about; enjoying the freedom rather than getting on with the journey. You know, you can shilly-shally around, but if you want your players to win then you have to give them everything you can. But I don't believe in shilly-shallying around. Her lobster is warm, which is reason enough not to shilly-shally with it, and my crustaceans are chilled, which I too do not want to compromise. There are people out there willing to be tested, who do not shilly-shally and stall. However, I have been shilly-shallying, due to the cramped space of my flat and the densely inhabited area where I reside. No native in this group shilly-shallies with milestones in life such as who to marry and what career to choose. I think the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have shilly-shallied around this for far too long. That the government has been weak and shilly-shallying, that the public are dupes and the farmers paying the price seems to me to be very much in the current run of things. ‘They then started shilly-shallying,’ she said. Though many of them were shilly-shallying to come to the stage, some were sportive enough to take part. Synonyms dither, be indecisive, be irresolute, be undecided, be uncertain, be unsure, be doubtful, vacillate, waver, teeter, hesitate, oscillate, fluctuate, falter, drag one's feet nounˈSHilēˌSHalēˈʃɪliˌʃæli Indecisive behavior. Example sentencesExamples He had had enough of the shilly-shallying that now dominates the game's upper echelons. The Government's shilly-shallying and reluctance to act only led to thousands of disputes simply getting out of control. He hesitated to accept, but his forceful wife was having none of this shilly-shallying and telegraphed from America, ‘Do not procrastinate’. But it was so thrilling to be around someone who's been making films for so long that they know exactly what they want and how they want their world to look that there's no shilly-shallying. Other peoples' shilly-shallying could strain the not superabundant supply of Aquarian patience this week, but over-reacting won't serve your purposes. No amount of shilly-shallying and wishy-washy arguments from the police will convince me that in some areas the police are simply not achieving the results we want them to achieve. No shilly-shallying: just determination and a no-nonsense approach to hitting the enemy and hitting him hard. She cut through all the silly shilly-shallying by pointing out that the broadcaster pursued an agenda of ‘internationalism, multi-culturalism and political correctness’. One result of this shilly-shallying is that much of the talk about liberty becomes a self-serving charade. Yet all we are hearing here, in her fourth year as Minister, is all this delay and dilly-dallying and shilly-shallying. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd. He said he wouldn't negotiate with North Korea, but after a year of shilly-shallying he began quietly doing exactly that. At which point we wondered why the whole economy didn't just base itself on the dollar, and cut out all of this shilly-shallying. Any shilly-shallying on that front would be dealt with swiftly and effectively by the ladies in the back kitchen. The three girlfriends are chiefly excuses for Bobby's shilly-shallying, so we get glaring patches of clashing color revolving around a colorless blob. He is now getting credit on the campaign trail for avoiding that kind of shilly-shallying and just arguing that the war was a bad idea in any case. We can live with either, but this kind of shilly-shallying only serves to destabilize the industry and diminish the game. Taxpayers, of course, have to pay for this shilly-shallying, directly in extra pay for legislators and through indirect costs. These and other policies have been damaged by backtracking, U-turns, watering down and general shilly-shallying. After nine months of shilly-shallying, the Vice President and his operatives have failed to bluff the General Account Office. Origin Mid 18th century: originally as shill I, shall I, reduplication of shall I?.
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