hesitate

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
  2. verb interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin haesitātus, perfect passive participle of haesitō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), intensive of haereō (“to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast”). Displaced native Old English wandian. Compare French hésiter.

In classic literature

Synonyms

waver, waffle

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