penelopize
penelopize verb: to create a delay by undoing what has previously been done, sometimes possibly with the intention of redoing it and repeating this cycle.
Verb (1)
penelopize (third-person singular simple present penelopizes, present participle penelopizing, simple past and past participle penelopized)
- To create a delay by undoing what has previously been done, sometimes possibly with the intention of redoing it and repeating this cycle.
- Diplomacy was still drawing out its lengthened thread — still weaving its long and dilatory web — still Penelopizing — when the same McLeod, the boaster in Canada of his active share in this triple crime of midnight murder, arson, and robbery, crosses over to the American side and repeats, in the...1841, Thomas Hart Benton, "Speech of Mr. Benton, of Missouri, on the Case of McLeod," p. 3 (Google preview)
- However, there is nothing for it but to penelopize, pull to pieces, and stitch away again.1879, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., chapter 9, in Memoir of John Lothrop Motley
- Synonyms:
- delay, procrastinate, stall
Verb (2) capitalized: Penelopize
Penelopize (third-person singular simple present Penelopizes, present participle Penelopizing, simple past and past participle Penelopized)
- Alternative form of penelopize.
Synonyms of penelopize
Forms of penelopize
| third-person singular present | penelopizes |
|---|---|
| present participle | penelopizing |
| past participle | penelopized |
| past | penelopized |
| alternative form | penelopise |
| alternative form | Penelopise |
| alternative form | Penelopize |
| third-person singular present | Penelopizes |
| present participle | Penelopizing |
| past participle | Penelopized |
| past | Penelopized |
Origin of penelopize
From Penelope + -ize, from the account in Homer's Odyssey of Penelope, who stalled her many suitors while she wove a shroud which she unraveled nightly to prolong the process.
Questions about penelopize
- What does penelopize mean?
- Penelopize means to create a delay by undoing what has previously been done, sometimes possibly with the intention of redoing it and repeating this cycle.
- What part of speech is penelopize?
- Penelopize is a verb.
- What is the past tense of penelopize?
- The past tense of penelopize is penelopized.
Words near penelopize in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: penelopize (page history and authors); Penelopize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “penelopize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/penelopize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.