hesitate

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

hæsitate (archaic)

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

IPA^(key): /ˈhɛzɪteɪt/
Audio (UK) (file)

Verb[edit]

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

(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.
(intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
(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[edit]

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

Synonyms[edit]

(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[edit]

Translations[edit]

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) (teengtaang), 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:
Cyrillic: оклевати impf (Ekavian), оклијевати impf (Ijekavian), колебати impf, поколебати pf, двоумити impf, нећкати pf

Roman: oklevati (sh) impf (Ekavian), oklijevati (sh) impf (Ijekavian), kolebati (sh) impf, pokolebati (sh) pf, dvoumiti (sh) impf, nećkati (sh) pf
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. 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)

Anagrams[edit]

athetise, hatesite