hesitation

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun indecision in speech or action
  2. noun a certain degree of unwillingness
  3. noun the act of pausing uncertainly

Etymology

From Latin haesitātiōnem, accusative singular of haesitātiō (“hesitating, stammering”), from haesitō (“hesitate”). Displaced native Old English ġewand.

In classic literature

Synonyms

vacillation, wavering

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