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Fluster vs Flounder - What's the difference?

fluster | flounder |

As verbs the difference between fluster and flounder

is that fluster is while flounder is to flop around as a fish out of water.

As a noun flounder is

a european species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, european flounder,.

fluster

English

Verb

  • (dated) To make hot and rosy, as with drinking.
  • * Macaulay
    • His habit of flustering himself daily with claret.
  • (by extension) To confuse, befuddle, throw into panic by making overwrought with confusion.
    • He seemed to get flustered when speaking in front of too many people.
  • To be in a heat or bustle; to be agitated and confused.
  • * South
    • The flustering , vainglorious Greeks.

    Derived terms

    * flustered (adjective) * flustering (adjective, present participle)

    Anagrams

    * *

    flounder

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) floundre, from . Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • 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)
    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)
  • To flop around as a fish out of water.
  • To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
    • Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.
  • To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered.
  • * Sir W. Hamilton
    • 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.
  • * 1996 , , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 136
    • 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

    English nouns with irregular plurals