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”). Compare aghast, gaze, adhere.

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
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 (ku) (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)
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
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)

Anagrams[edit]

athetise, hatesite