hesitating 1 of 2

adjective

as in ambivalent

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hesitating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of hesitate
as in faltering
to show uncertainty about the right course of action I didn't hesitate to tell them that what they were doing was wrong and that I wanted no part of it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hesitating
Verb
Cueto was known for hesitating while in his pitching motion, or wiggling on the mound. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026 So electric power companies and regulators are cautious, hesitating to construct plants unless future demand is guaranteed. — Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2026 Suarez, not hesitating, took advantage and sent his shot soaring. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 2 Aug. 2026 While some may be looking for more reasons to eat cookies, many more are simply hesitating to eat salads and other fresh produce amid a multistate outbreak of cyclospora, known for that unpleasant symptom, among others. — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 22 July 2026 The book does often feel like a recording of a mental jam session, but there is also a sense of being guided by a kind of hesitating yet urgent voice that needs to get things figured out. — Craig Morgan Teicher, Literary Hub, 1 June 2026 While their rivals started spending significant sums of money as soon as the 2024-25 season finished, Spurs wasted a couple of weeks hesitating about the long-term future of then head coach Ange Postecoglou before replacing him with Thomas Frank. — David Ornstein, New York Times, 29 May 2026 Right now, Taylor said, both sides are hesitating. — Rachel Barber, USA Today, 8 May 2026 Walgreens isn’t hesitating to close stores in parts of Chicago where theft is frequent and there are legitimate concerns about the safety of employees and customers. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hesitating
  1. ambivalent
  2. faltering
  3. shaky
  4. waiting
  5. vacillating
  6. wavering
  7. random
  8. aimless
Adjective
  • The powwow was more ambivalent than most Fourth of July celebrations.
    — Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • What reads at a casual distance as serene maternal tenderness shifts, on closer inspection, into something more ambivalent—a shade of melancholy that surfaces only when the eye lingers on Mary’s face.
    — Carmen Rosenberg-Miller, Artforum, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of ambivalent
Verb
  • But to arrest that decline, governments will have to address the faltering state capacity that is driving it.
    — Jennifer Pahlka, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 2026
  • After Stearns and Kostyuk won the first six points, the Williams sisters cut the deficit to one before eventually faltering on Venus’ double-fault on the final point.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of faltering
Adjective
  • As for supplements that claim to boost testosterone, researchers say the scientific ground is shaky at best.
    — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 20 Aug. 2026
  • For starters, the science is shakier than cursive’s champions let on.
    — Mary Jean Tecce DeCarlo, The Conversation, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of shaky
Verb
  • In early August, dozens of vessels were waiting for their turn in the Panama Canal.
    — Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Currently, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) says non-booked vessels are waiting an average of eight days to pass through.
    — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of waiting
Adjective
  • This is the Alcaraz who is unbeatable, a man who cut out the vacillating streaks in his game that derailed him in Melbourne and Wimbledon.
    — Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Definition of vacillating
Adjective
  • Sony has also shown a wavering commitment to its digital stores.
    — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 1 July 2026
  • The same engine that nudges one shopper up can hand another a discount to close a wavering sale.
    — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 10 June 2026
Definition of wavering
Adjective
  • The backgrounds are sparse and artifical, with generous bloomed lighting and mist applied to seemingly random places.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Paralympic ticket sales will begin sometime in 2027 with a random draw or lottery, similar to how Olympic sales began.
    — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of random
Adjective
  • In this sort of time regime, pointless, aimless time becomes a rarity, even a luxury—and an object of nostalgia.
    — Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2026
  • In any case, the burgeoning Cruz-Josie relationship should make for a welcome change-up in relationship drama from the endless and, at this point, aimless Joe-Neal domestic saga.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of aimless

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Cite this Entry

“Hesitating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hesitating. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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