hesitant

See also: hésitant

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin haereō

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tos

Latin -tus

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin -tō

▲

Latin -tō

Latin -itō

Latin -titō

Latin haesitō

Latin haesitānsbor.

English hesitant

Borrowed from Latin haesitans, present participle of haesitare (“to stick fast, to hesitate”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛzɪtənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

hesitant (comparative more hesitant, superlative most hesitant)

1. Tending to hesitate, wait, or proceed with caution or reservation.

   I am hesitant to recommend him as a manager because he has a short temper.

Derived terms

• hesitantly
• unhesitant

Related terms

• hesitance
• hesitancy
• hesitate
• hesitation
• hesitative

Translations

tending to hesitate

• Bulgarian: колеблив (bg) (kolebliv), нерешителен (bg) (nerešitelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 猶豫不決 / 犹豫不决 (zh) (yóuyùbùjué), ^{(please verify)} 下不了決心 / 下不了决心 (xiàbuliǎo juéxīn)

• Czech: váhavý
• Dutch: schoorvoetend (nl), aarzelend (nl), weifelend (nl)
• Finnish: epäröivä (fi)
• French: hésitant (fr)
• German: zögerlich (de)
• Greek: διστακτικός (el) m (distaktikós)
• Hebrew: הססן (he) m (Hasesan)
• Hindi: संकोची (hi) (saṅkocī)
• Icelandic: hikandi m, efablandinn m, tvístígandi m, óákveðinn (is) m, óráðinn m, á báðum áttum
• Italian: esitante (it), titubante (it)
• Latin: cunctans, haesitans
• Māori: pōkaku, hokirua, kokekoke, maunawenawe, tikumu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nølende

• Portuguese: hesitante (pt)
• Russian: неуверен (neuveren)
• Spanish: vacilante (es), inseguro (es), titubeante, dubitativo (es), indeciso (es), irresoluto (es)
• Swedish: tveksam (sv), tvehågsen (sv), villrådig (sv), ambivalent (sv), kluven (sv), velig (sv), obeslutsam (sv), vankelmodig (sv)
• Tagalog: nag-aalinlangan

Anagrams

• Theatins, staineth

Catalan

Verb

hesitant

1. gerund of hesitar