dither

Elias has decided to stay put even as prices dither.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

And while Hamlet may dither in seeking revenge for his father’s murder, we don’t hope that the scheming Claudius gets away with it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

"For too long, the North has been held back by underinvestment and years of dither and delay," Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.

From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2026

Providing this road map of his intentions puts Smith on firm footing to challenge the judge if she continues to dither.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2024

When Sunday actually came around, I was in a real dither over my date.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

But the feature dithers in development, which becomes something of a running joke here; the shot of a stone-faced Mr. McElwee watching a ridiculous promo reel is a moment of perfectly understated comedy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

But he just dithers or pouts or stares at her blankly while the bad guys close in.

From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2022

The narrator dithers over how much she wants a leadership position in this unofficial hierarchy of casual dismissiveness, earnestness avoidance and radical obsolescence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2021

But as the company dithers, its users are organizing.

From The Verge ● Aug. 16, 2018

But it tends to defeat efficient compression, because the very thing that dithers to reduce moire patterns also tends to work against compression schemes.

From Library of Congress Workshop on Etexts by Library of Congress

Beirut dithered away all of 2025 while U.S. envoy Tom Barrack pleaded with it to disarm Hezbollah.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

It was a much quieter affair after the break but Parris was at hand to capitalise as Spurs dithered and were unable to clear the ball from the six-yard box.

From BBC ● May 7, 2023

While Washington dithered, he appeared to place risky bets that incinerated his fortune, jeopardized billions of dollars in Silicon Valley capital and upended an entire ecosystem of cryptocurrency start-ups.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2022

It’s less dramatic perhaps, but also more unstoppable because we’ve dithered for so long.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2022

Maddie was the only passenger to get off at Castle Craig, and after she’d dithered on the platform for five minutes, the stationmaster came out to greet her personally.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

At the time, then Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes criticised "dithering" on the decision but said national security was important and must be respected.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

On Wednesday, Sir Keir defended his government's record on military spending after Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of "dithering".

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

If Mr. Linklater, a well-established New York stage actor, cannot make Ben’s emotional dithering either original or believable, he at least brings a taut intensity to his performance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

After some dithering, I settled on my home state of New York.

From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026

“A Princess’s reception? A Royal Command?” she shrieked, dithering.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck