Word.ws English Dictionary

pussyfoot

UK/ˈpʊsiˌfʊt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈpɵsɪjˌfɵt/

pussyfoot verb: to move silently, stealthily, or furtively.

Verb

pussyfoot (third-person singular simple present pussyfoots, present participle pussyfooting, simple past and past participle pussyfooted)

  1. (intransitive) To move silently, stealthily, or furtively.
  2. (intransitive) To act timidly or cautiously.
    • — So are you going to practice what you’re preaching and stop pussyfooting around with Faye?
      — Hey, I’m 0 for 1 when it comes to practicing what I preach. These feet stay pussied for the time being.2004, Jeph Jacques, Fripp and Eno
    • The TSSA union said the Government should "stop pussyfooting around" and place Euston at the heart of the transformative rail project.2023 April 5, “Network News: NAO: Use HS2 Euston pause to put project on a stable footing”, in RAIL, number 980, page 13
  3. (intransitive) To use euphemistic language or circumlocution.
    • "Then you talk up! And plain! What's there to be so pussyfooting about?"1946, Tennessee Williams, The Unsatisfactory Supper
    Synonyms:
    pollyfox

Noun

pussyfoot (countable and uncountable, plural pussyfoots)

  1. (countable, dated) A teetotaller.
    • "We keep off that road like a pussyfoot keeps off whiskey. Get it out of your bean that we're exploring a deserted ruin."1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page xi. 103
  2. Synonym of bluemink (“Ageratum houstonianum”).
    Synonyms:
    bluemink

pussyfoot meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

pussyfoot in Tamil

சத்தமின்றி நட, பயந்து தயங்கி நட, சுற்றி வளைத்துப் பேசு

pussyfoot in Malayalam

be evasive, equivocate, tergiversate
ഉഭയാർത്ഥമായി സംസാരിക്കുക, സന്ദിഗ്ദ്ധാർത്ഥത്തിൽ സംസാരിക്കുക, വ്യക്തമായ അഭിപ്രായം പറയാതിരിക്കുക, അങ്ങുമിങ്ങും തൊടാതെ അഭിപ്രായം പറയുക, വ്യക്തമായ മാർഗ്ഗം നിർദ്ദേശിക്കാതിരിക്കുക, ഒഴുക്കൻ മറുപടി പറയുക
tiptoe, creep, pad
പാത്തും പതുങ്ങിയും നീങ്ങുക, ഇഴഞ്ഞുനീങ്ങുക, കാൽവിരൽ മാത്രം കുത്തിനടക്കുക, കാലൊച്ച കേൾപ്പിക്കാതെ നടക്കുക, ഒളിച്ചു കടക്കുക, പതുങ്ങിക്കയറുക

Synonyms of pussyfoot

Forms of pussyfoot

Verb
third-person singular presentpussyfoots
present participlepussyfooting
past participlepussyfooted
pastpussyfooted
Noun
pluralpussyfoots

Origin of pussyfoot

From pussy (“feline”) + foot; because of the light and careful tread of cats.

Words formed from pussyfoot

Questions about pussyfoot

What does pussyfoot mean?
Pussyfoot means to move silently, stealthily, or furtively.
What is pussyfoot in Tamil?
Pussyfoot in Tamil is சத்தமின்றி நட, பயந்து தயங்கி நட, சுற்றி வளைத்துப் பேசு. See Pussyfoot meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is pussyfoot?
Pussyfoot can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce pussyfoot?
Pussyfoot is pronounced /ˈpʊsiˌfʊt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of pussyfoot?
The past tense of pussyfoot is pussyfooted.

Words near pussyfoot in the dictionary

  1. pussycats
  2. pussydom
  3. pussyfest
  4. pussyfests
  5. pussyfication
  6. pussyfoot
  7. pussyfooted
  8. pussyfooter
  9. pussyfooters
  10. pussyfooting
  11. pussyfootings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pussyfoot (page history and authors); pussyfoot (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pussyfoot (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-pussyfoot.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pussyfoot.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pussyfoot. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.