hesitate
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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]
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.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Alexander Pope to this entry?)
- (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
- (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
- Alexander Pope
- Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.
- Alexander Pope
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
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to stammer; to falter in speaking
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- 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
Further reading[edit]
- hesitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- hesitate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.
- hesitate at OneLook Dictionary Search