hesitate

English

Alternative forms

• hæsitate (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin haesitatus, past participle of haesitare, intensive of haerere (“to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast”). Displaced native Old English wandian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛzɪteɪt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Verb

hesitate (third-person singular simple present hesitates, present participle hesitating, simple past and past participle hesitated)

1. (intransitive) To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.

   He hesitated whether to accept the offer or not; men often hesitate in forming a judgment.

   • September 1, 1742, Alexander Pope, letter to Racine

     I shall not hesitate to declare myself very cordially, in regard to some particulars about which you have desired an answer.

2. (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
3. (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
   • a. 1724, Alexander Pope, The Ms. at Longleat

     Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (to stop respecting decision or action): demur, falter, mammer, scruple, waver; see also Thesaurus:hesitate
• (to falter in speaking): balbucinate, balbutiate, falter, hem, haw, stammer, stutter
• (to utter with hesitation): falter

Derived terms

• hesitant
• hesitation

Translations

to stop or pause respecting decision or action

• Arabic: تَرَدَّدَ‎ (ar) (taraddada)

  Egyptian Arabic: اتردد‎ (etraded)

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: tərəddüd etmək
• Bashkir: икеләнеү (ikelänew)
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: хіста́цца impf (xistácca), вага́цца impf (vahácca)
• Bulgarian: колеба́я се impf (kolebája se), двоумя се impf (dvoumja se), чудя се impf (čudja se)
• Catalan: hesitar (ca), dubtar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 猶豫 (zh), 犹豫 (zh) (yóuyù), 躊躇 (zh), 踌躇 (zh) (chóuchú), 遲疑 (zh), 迟疑 (zh) (chíyí)

• Czech: váhat (cs) impf
• Danish: ^{(please verify)} tøve (da), ^{(please verify)} nøle, ^{(please verify)} vakle, have/nære ^{(please verify)} betænkeligheder
• Dutch: aarzelen (nl)
• Egyptian: (sjnj)
• Esperanto: heziti
• Finnish: epäröidä (fi), aikailla (fi), empiä (fi), viivytellä (fi), vitkastella (fi)
• French: hésiter (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: zögern (de)
• Greek: διστάζω (el) (distázo)

  Ancient: ὀκνέω (oknéō), αἰσχύνομαι (aiskhúnomai), φοβέομαι (phobéomai)

• Hungarian: tétovázik (hu), habozik (hu), hezitál (hu)
• Indonesian: ragu (id)
• Italian: esitare (it), titubare (it)
• Japanese: ためらう (ja) (tamerau), 躊躇する (ja) (ちゅうちょする, chūcho suru), 躊躇う (ja) (tamerau)
• Khmer: ទីមទាម (km) (tiimtiəm), ទីទើរ (km) (tiitəə), តេងតាង (km) (teingtaang), ញីញញូញ (km) (ñiiññuuñ), ច្រេញច្រុញ (km) (crəñcroñ), ច្រិមច្រុម (km) (crəmcrom)

• Korean: 망설이다 (ko) (mangseorida)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دوودڵ بوون‎ (dûdill bûn)

• Latin: haesitō, dubito (la)
• Lithuanian: dvejoti (lt) impf, svyruoti impf
• Luxembourgish: zécken
• Macedonian: се колеба impf (se koleba)
• Maori: tawhitawhi, kōrapa
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: nøle med å

  Bokmål: nøle (no)

• Old English: wandian
• Polish: wahać się (pl) impf
• Portuguese: hesitar (pt), vacilar (pt), titubear (pt)
• Quechua: iskayyay
• Romanian: ezita (ro), șovăi (ro), pregeta (ro), a se codi (ro)
• Russian: колеба́ться (ru) impf (kolebátʹsja), ме́длить (ru) impf (médlitʹ), сомнева́ться (ru) impf (somnevátʹsja)
• Scots: swither
• Scottish Gaelic: sòr
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: oklijevati (sh), kolebati (sh)

• Slovak: váhať impf
• Spanish: vacilar (es), dudar (es), hesitar (es) (rare), titubear (es)
• Swedish: tveka (sv)
• Tagalog: magdalawang-isip
• Thai: ลังเล (th) (lang-lee)
• Turkish: çekinmek (tr), kararsız kalmak
• Ukrainian: колива́тися impf (kolyvátysja), хита́тися impf (xytátysja), вага́тися (uk) impf (vahátysja)
• Vietnamese: chần chừ (vi), do dự (vi)

to stammer; to falter in speaking

• Bulgarian: заеквам (bg) (zaekvam), заекна (zaekna)
• Catalan: titubejar (ca)
• Czech: zaváhat (cs)
• Danish: stamme, hakke i det
• Finnish: epäröidä (fi)

• German: zögern (de), stammeln (de)
• Polish: jąkać się (pl)
• Russian: запина́ться (ru) impf (zapinátʹsja), запну́ться (ru) pf (zapnútʹsja), заика́ться (ru) impf (zaikátʹsja), заикну́ться (ru) pf (zaiknútʹsja)
• Scots: hover

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} להסס‎
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} dubitare (la)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} kolebati (sh), ^{(please verify)} časiti (sh)

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} dudar (es)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} tveka (sv), ^{(please verify)} dröja (sv)

Further reading

• hesitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• hesitate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• hesitate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• athetise, hatesite