| Main Entry: | demur |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disagree |
Synonyms: |
balk, cavil, challenge, combat, complain, deprecate, disapprove, dispute, doubt, fight, hem and haw, hesitate, object, oppose, pause, protest, pussyfoot, refuse, remonstrate, resist, scruple, shy, stick, stickle, strain, take exception, vacillate, wait and see, waver |
| Notes: | demur is the verb 'to object or voice opposition' while demure is the adjective meaning 'modest, shy' |
Antonyms: |
accept, agree, consent, go along |
| Main Entry: | dilly-dally |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | waste time |
Synonyms: |
dawdle, delay, hem and haw, hesitate, linger, loiter, meander, mosey, move slowly, procrastinate, vacillate |
| Main Entry: | elude |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid; escape |
Synonyms: |
baffle, be beyond someone, beat around the bush, bilk, circumvent, confound, cop out, ditch, dodge, double, duck, eschew, evade, flee, fly, foil, frustrate, get around, get away from, give the runaround, give the slip, give wide berth to, hem and haw, not touch, outrun, outwit, pass the buck, pass up, puzzle, run around, shirk, shuck, shun, shy, stall, stay shy of, steer clear of, stonewall, stump, thwart |
Antonyms: |
attract, confront, encounter, entice, face, invite, meet, take on |
| Main Entry: | equivocate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid an issue |
Synonyms: |
beat around the bush, beg the question, blow hot and cold, cavil, cloud the issue, con, cop a plea, cop out, cover up, dodge, double-talk, elude, escape, eschew, evade, falsify, fence, fib, flip-flop, fudge, give run around, hedge, hem and haw, jive, lie, mince words, palter, parry, pass the buck, prevaricate, pussyfoot, quibble, run around, shuck, shuffle, sidestep, sit on the fence, stonewall, tell white lie, tergiversate, tergiverse, waffle, weasel |
Antonyms: |
face, meet, speak on |
| Main Entry: | falter |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | stumble, stutter |
Synonyms: |
be undecided, bobble, break, drop the ball, flounder, fluctuate, fluff, halt, hem and haw, hesitate, lurch, quaver, reel, rock, roll, scruple, shake, speak haltingly, stagger, stammer, stub toe, teeter, topple, totter, tremble, trip up, vacillate, waver, whiffle, wobble |
Antonyms: |
continue, endure, maintain, persist, remain, stay |
| Main Entry: | fluctuate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | vacillate, change |
Synonyms: |
alter, alternate, be undecided, blow hot and cold, ebb and flow, flutter, go up and down, hem and haw, hesitate, oscillate, rise and fall, seesaw, shift, swing, undulate, vary, veer, vibrate, wave, waver, yo-yo |
Antonyms: |
hold, persist, remain, stay |
| Main Entry: | hedge |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | avoid, dodge |
Synonyms: |
be noncommittal, beat around the bush, blow hot and cold, cop a plea, cop out, duck, equivocate, evade, flip-flop, fudge, give the run around, hem and haw, jive, pass the buck, prevaricate, pussyfoot, quibble, run around, shilly-shally, shuck, shuffle, sidestep, sit on the fence, stall, stonewall, temporize, tergiversate, tergiverse, waffle |
Antonyms: |
confront, face, meet |
| Main Entry: | hesitate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | wait; be uncertain |
Synonyms: |
alternate, balance, balk, be irresolute, be reluctant, be unwilling, blow hot and cold, dally, debate, defer, delay, demur, dillydally, dither, doubt, equivocate, falter, flounder, fluctuate, fumble, hang back, hang*, hedge, hem and haw, hold back, hold off, hover, linger, oscillate, pause, ponder, pull back, pussyfoot, scruple, seesaw, shift, shrink, shy away, sit on fence, stammer, stop, straddle, stumble, stutter, swerve, tergiversate, think about, think twice, vacillate, waffle, waver, weigh |
Antonyms: |
attack, carry on, continue, go, go ahead, persevere, resolve |
| Main Entry: | pussyfoot |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | be cautious |
Synonyms: |
avoid, be noncommittal, beat around the bush, creep, dodge, duck the issues, equivocate, evade, glide, hedge, hem and haw, lurk, play it close to the vest, prevaricate, prowl, shuffle, sidestep, sit on the fence, skirt, skulk, slide, slink, slip, sneak, steal, tergiversate, tergiverse, tiptoe, tread warily, watch one's step, weasel |
Antonyms: |
plod |
| Main Entry: | quibble |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | disagree over minor issues |
Synonyms: |
altercate, argue over, argufy, avoid, bicker, blow hot and cold, carp, catch at straws, cavil, chicane, criticize, dispute, equivocate, evade, fence, flip-flop, hassle, have at it, hem and haw, hypercriticize, make a big thing about, nit-pick, paralogize, pettifog, pretend, prevaricate, put up an argument, set to, shift, spar, split hairs, squabble, talk back, waffle, wrangle |
Antonyms: |
agree, approve, concur |