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

The housing ministry said it had been taking "tough and decisive action after years of dither and delay" which would speed up the "unacceptably slow" pace of work.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2025

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

Now that “Honest Abe” Lincoln had won the presidency, the South was in a dither.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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

And so even if Congress dithers after today, transparency is coming to platforms one way or another.

From The Verge ● May 5, 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

“Borders are closed, aircraft grounded and ships anchored as W.H.O. mutely dithers over whether or not to declare an emergency.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 30, 2020

His eyes wink and sparkle in the huge white clump that dithers on his shoulders—a clump reddish on each side, where the ears were.

From Under Fire: the story of a squad by Fitzwater Wray

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

While local officials dithered over its fate, its whereabouts remained a mystery, and many want to keep it that way.

From New York Times ● May 5, 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

Only after more than two years of dithering did the court fire Mr. Khan for “serious misconduct and serious breach of duty.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Presenter Amol Rajan used his Alternative Mactaggart to urge the UK government to "stop dithering" about the BBC's funding structure.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

Also speaking on The Sunday Show, Swinney called on the UK government to "stop dithering" and "get on with taking some decision" about reducing energy costs.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026

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

From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026

For Teller, however, it replicated the unfocused dithering he had been grousing about.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik