hesitate

English

Alternative forms

• hæsitate (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin haesitatus, past participle of haesitare, intensive of haerere (“to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast”). Compare aghast, gaze, adhere.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɛzɪteɪt/

Verb

hesitate (third-person singular simple present hesitates, present participle hesitating, simple past and past participle hesitated)

1. (intransitive) To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
   • Alexander Pope,

     He hesitated whether to accept the offer or not; men often hesitate in forming a judgment.

2. (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
3. (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
   • Alexander Pope,

     Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• deliberate
• demur
• doubt
• falter
• mammer
• scruple
• stammer
• waver

Derived terms

• hesitant
• hesitation

Translations

To stop or pause respecting decision or action

• Arabic: تردد (ar) (taráddada)
• Bulgarian: колебая се (bg) (kolebaja se), двоумя се (bg) (dvoumja se), чудя се (bg) (čudja se)
• Catalan: hesitar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 猶豫 (cmn), 犹豫 (cmn) (yóuyù), 躊躇 (cmn), 踌躇 (cmn) (chóuchú)

• Czech: váhat (cs)
• Danish: tøve (da), nøle (da), vakle (da), have/nære betænkelighed (da)er
• Dutch: aarzelen (nl)
• Finnish: epäröidä (fi), aikailla (fi), empiä (fi), viivytellä (fi), vitkastella (fi)
• French: hésiter (fr)
• German: zögern (de)
• Indonesian: ragu (id)
• Japanese: ためらう (ja) (tamerau), 躊躇する (ja) (ちゅうちょする, chūcho-suru)

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: دوودڵ بوون

• Luxembourgish: zécken (lb)
• Norwegian: nøle (no)
• Polish: wahać się (pl)
• Portuguese: hesitar (pt)
• Quechua: iskayyay (qu)
• Romanian: ezita (ro), șovăi (ro), pregeta (ro), a se codi (ro)
• Russian: колебаться (ru) (kolebát'sja) impf., медлить (ru) (médlit') impf., сомневаться (ru) (somnevát'sja) impf.
• Scots: swither
• Scottish Gaelic: sòr (gd)
• Spanish: vacilar (es), dudar (es)
• Turkish: çekinmek (tr), kararsız kalmak (tr)

To stammer; to falter in speaking

• Bulgarian: заеквам (bg) (zaekvam), заекна (bg) (zaekna)
• Czech: zaváhat (cs)
• Danish: stamme (da), hakke (da) i det
• Finnish: epäröidä (fi)
• German: zögern (de), stammeln (de)

• Polish: jąkać się (pl)
• Russian: запинаться (ru) (zapinát's'a) impf., запнуться (ru) (zapnút's'a) pf., заикаться (ru) (zaikát's'a) impf., заикнуться (ru) (zaiknút's'a) pf.
• Scots: hover

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Latin: dubitare (la)

• Serbo-Croatian: kolebati (sh), časiti (sh)
• Spanish: dudar (es)
• Swedish: tveka (sv), dröja (sv)
• Hebrew: להסס (he)

External links

• hesitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• hesitate in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• hesitate at OneLook Dictionary Search