Flounder vs Hesitate - What's the difference?
flounder | hesitate |
A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder, .
(North America) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.
A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts.
(rfi, the bootmaker's tool)
To flop around as a fish out of water.
To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered.
* Sir W. Hamilton
* 1996 , , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 136
English nouns with irregular plurals
To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
To stammer; to falter in speaking.
(transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
*
In lang=en terms the difference between flounder and hesitate
is that flounder is to act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered while hesitate is to stammer; to falter in speaking.As verbs the difference between flounder and hesitate
is that flounder is to flop around as a fish out of water while hesitate is to stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.As a noun flounder
is a european species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, european flounder,.flounder
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) floundre, from . Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.Noun
(en-noun)External links
* (wikipedia "flounder")Etymology 2
Possibly from the noun. Possibly from (founder) or from (etyl) . See other terms beginning with fl , such as (flutter), (flitter), (float), (flap), (flub), (flip)Verb
(en verb)- Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.
- They have floundered on from blunder to blunder.
- He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well.
- He is assessing directions, but he is not lost, not floundering .
Usage notes
Frequently confused with the verb founder. The difference is one of severity; floundering'' (struggling to maintain a position) comes before ''foundering (losing it completely by falling, sinking or failing).References
hesitate
English
Alternative forms
* (archaic)Verb
(hesitat)- He hesitated''' whether to accept the offer or not; men often '''hesitate in forming a judgment.
- (Alexander Pope)
- Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.