Another word for hesitate
a-z
Verb
To be irresolute in acting or doing
- To waver in one's opinions, etc.; vacillate
- To waver or vacillate in one's opinions or feelings.
- To tremble or quaver:
- To move unsteadily back and forth:
- To become unsteady; begin to give way; falter
- To tremble or quaver in sound, as of the voice or a musical note.
- To sway to and fro; waver; totter; stagger
- To be unable to choose between different courses of action or opinions; waver:
- To change between one state and another; fluctuate:
- To arrange (the wings of a biplane) so that the leading edge of one wing is either ahead of or behind the leading edge of the other wing.
- (Sports) To arrange (the start of a race) with the starting point in the outside lanes progressively closer to the finish line so as to neutralize the advantage of competing in the shorter inside lanes.
- To arrange in alternating or overlapping time periods:
- In a hesitant manner; irresolutely.
- To be unable to come to a decision; vacillate.
- To spend time on insignificant things; dawdle.
- To cease or suspend the action of temporarily; stop for an interim:
- To cause to be temporarily inactive; briefly stop the action of (an electronic device, audio or video stream, etc.)
- To hesitate:
- To stop; pause:
- To come or bring to a halt; stop, esp. temporarily
- (Intransitive) To stop marching.
- To act hesitantly; show uncertainty; waver; flinch
- To stumble in speech; speak haltingly; stammer
- To move uncertainly or unsteadily; totter; stumble
See also:
© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Another word for hesitate
Verb
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- Alternative spelling of dilly-dally.
- To waste time in hesitation or vacillation; loiter or dawdle
- To mumble and procrastinate in one's speech, especially with a reply to a hard question or with voicing a decision on a topical matter; to evade a question, giving vague answers; to equivocate.
- (Idiomatic) (US) To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action or making up one's mind.
- To procrastinate.
- To be unable to come to a decision; vacillate.
- To spend time on insignificant things; dawdle.
- (Idiomatic) To procrastinate, put off; to dawdle, avoid, or make progress slowly and reluctantly.
- (Idiomatic) To intentionally stall, to delay, to obstruct.
- (Idiomatic) To reconsider, use judgement; to proceed with caution or thought.
- To use equivocal language to deceive someone or avoid committing oneself to a position.
- To be in or come into equilibrium.
- (Mathematics & Chemistry) To bring (an equation) into balance.
- To find any difference that may exist between the debit and credit sides of (an account); also, to equalize the debit and credit sides of (an account)
- To stay in a place or be slow in leaving it, often out of reluctance:
- To pause or dwell (over or on something) in contemplation, deliberation, enjoyment, etc.
- To devote considerable time to something, especially in a leisurely fashion:
- To consult with another or others in a process of reaching a decision.
- To think or consider carefully and fully; esp., to consider reasons for and against a thing in order to make up one's mind
- To think carefully and often slowly, as about a choice to be made.
- To remain or rest in expectation:
- To be a waiter or waitress at:
- To remain or stay in expectation of; await:
- To become or seem to become smaller, more compact, etc.; contract, as from heat, cold, moisture, etc.
- To hold back, as from taking action; hesitate or recoil
- To become or appear to become smaller:
- To move or transfer from one person, place, or position to another
- To change gears, as when driving an automobile.
- To get along by tricky or evasive means.
- To discuss or argue (a question, for example) formally.
- (Obsolete) To fight or argue for or over.
- To consider something; deliberate.
- To desert a cause, party, etc.; become a renegade; apostatize
- To use evasions or ambiguities; equivocate.
- To change sides; apostatize.
- To turn aside or deviate to avoid impact.
- To turn aside or cause to turn aside sharply or suddenly from a straight line, course, etc.
- To go out of a straight line; to deflect.
- To waver, as between conflicting opinions or courses of action; vacillate:
- To swing or move regularly back and forth
- (Physics) To vary between alternate extremes, usually within a definable period of time.
- To flirt; play at love
- To consider or occupy oneself with something in a careless or unserious fashion; toy.
- To spend (time) idly:
- (Archaic) To delay.
- To voice opposition; object:
- To hesitate because of one's doubts or objections; have scruples; object
- To fall back; return:
- (Nautical) To adjust (the sails and yards) so that they receive the wind properly.
- To cut (something) down to the required size or shape
- To change one's opinions or viewpoint so as to satisfy opposing factions, etc.; compromise
- (Idiomatic) To decide differently than one had decided before.
- To remain or rest in expectation:
- To be a waiter or waitress at:
- To remain or stay in expectation of; await:
- To act or move slowly; put off an action or a decision.
- To put off to a future time; postpone
- To stop for a while; linger
- To postpone the induction of (one eligible for the military draft).
- To give in to the wish or judgment of another, as in showing respect; yield with courtesy (to)
- To put off to a future time; postpone; delay
- To ponder (something or someone).
- To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.
- To think about (something) with thoroughness and care.
- To weigh mentally; think deeply about; consider carefully
- (--- Baseball) To make an illegal motion before pitching, allowing one or more base runners to advance one base.
- To stop and obstinately refuse to move or act
- To stop short and refuse to go on:
- To hesitate (at) from doubt or uneasiness; be unwilling because of one's conscience; have scruples (about)
- To hesitate as a result of conscience or principle:
- To linger or wait close by, esp. in an overprotective, insistent, or anxious way
- To stay suspended or flutter in the air near one place
- (Computers) To position a pointer over an object or area of the screen, causing a pop-up box to appear or other change to occur:
- To place a bet in poker before the cards are dealt that is twice the amount of the big blind when one is immediately to the left of the big blind.
- To take or appear to take both sides of (an issue); avoid committing oneself on
- To straddle an issue, argument, etc.; refuse to commit oneself; hedge
- To take turns
- To do or use by turns
- To pass back and forth from one state, action, or place to another:
- (Idiomatic) To delay someone or something temporarily; to keep at bay.
- (Idiomatic, intransitive) To delay commencing an action (until some specified time or event has passed).
- To prevent the flow or passage of:
- To interrupt one's course or journey for a brief visit or stay. Often used with by, in, or off:
- To be able to go no further; come to an end
- To cause to be temporarily inactive; briefly stop the action of (an electronic device, audio or video stream, etc.)
- To cease or suspend an action temporarily:
- To cease or suspend the action of temporarily; stop for an interim:
- To waver in mind; show indecision
- To be unable to choose between different courses of action or opinions; waver:
- To change between one state and another; fluctuate:
- To cause to vary irregularly.
- To be continually changing or varying in an irregular way
- To move back and forth or up and down; rise and fall; undulate, as waves
- Stammer
- To make (a series of repeated sounds)
- (Intransitive) To speak with a spasmodic repetition of vocal sounds.
- To move unsteadily or haltingly; stumble:
- To move uncertainly or unsteadily; totter; stumble
- To say hesitantly or timidly
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
