falter
Other forms: faltered; faltering; falters
Falter means to hesitate, stumble, or waver, and everything from faith to voices can do it. So if you want to keep your bride or groom happy, it's best not to falter when it's your turn to say "I do."
Experts may falter if you ask them where falter came from, because the origins are pretty unclear. But everyone agrees on the current meaning: someone who falters is unsteady, wobbly, or unsure. You might falter while reciting a poem if you forget some of the lines, or falter crossing a rickety rope bridge when fear gets the most of you. But you certainly won't falter when someone asks you the meaning of this word.
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move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
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walk unsteadily
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speak haltingly
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the act of pausing uncertainly
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synonyms:
faltering, hesitation, waver
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type of:
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pause
temporary inactivity
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pause
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be unsure or weak
/ˈfɔltər/
/ˈfɔltə/
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing falter
With a name that translates into Stout Heart, fifteen-year-old Mafatu, the son of the Great Chief of the Polynesian island of Hikueru, is determined to conquer his fear of the sea.
When riots break out in Los Angeles, sixth-grader Jordan Park decides he must go to his family's store to protect his father.
When people mysteriously disappear and her mother is attacked by an infectious patient, sixteen-year-old Raquel Celestin and her friends start an investigation that leads them to a dangerous game in the tunnels of the Bronx.
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