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SHILLYSHALLY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: shillyshallied
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or defering an action to a later time
Synonyms:
cunctation; procrastination; shillyshally
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("shillyshally" is a kind of...):
delay; holdup (the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time)
Derivation:
shillyshally (postpone doing what one should be doing)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Postpone doing what one should be doing
Example:
He did not want to write the letter and procrastinated for days
Synonyms:
dilly-dally; dillydally; drag one's feet; drag one's heels; procrastinate; shillyshally; stall
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "shillyshally" is one way to...):
delay (act later than planned, scheduled, or required)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shillyshally"):
procrastinate (postpone or delay needlessly)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
shillyshally (the act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or defering an action to a later time)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Be uncertain and vague
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "shillyshally" is one way to...):
hover; oscillate; vacillate; vibrate (be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
