Wiktionary

flounder

English

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A European flounder, Platichthys flesus.

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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 flounder on Wikipedia

From Middle English flowndre, from Anglo-Norman floundre, from Old Northern French flondre, from Old Norse flyðra,[1][2] from Proto-Germanic *flunþrijǭ. Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

Noun

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flounder (plural flounder or flounders)

  1. A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder (Platichthys flesus).
    • 1851, Anne Cobbett, The English Housekeeper, Chapter 13:
      Water Souchy.

      Eels, whitings, soles, flounders, and mackerel are generally used. Stew it in clear fish stock, until done, eight minutes will be enough; add cayenne, catsup, an anchovy, and any other flavouring ingredient; let it boil up, skim, and serve hot altogether in a tureen.
  2. (Canada, US) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.
    • 2014, Nick Honachefsky, The Jersey Surf Diaries:
      Blackfishing from the beach. I've done my research. Hundreds of shipwrecks line the Jersey coast, and many of them are close enough to reach with a long cast on a dead-low tide. These wrecks hold tautog, porgies, sea bass, flounder.
  3. A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts.
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Usage notes
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  • The marked plural flounders is reserved for multiple species of flounder; the unmarked plural flounder is used otherwise.
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 2

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Possibly from the noun. Probably a blend of flounce +‎ founder[3] or a blend of founder +‎ blunder[4] or from Dutch flodderen (“wade”). See other terms beginning with fl, such as flutter, flitter, float, flap, flub, flip.

Verb

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flounder (third-person singular simple present flounders, present participle floundering, simple past and past participle floundered)

  1. (intransitive) To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered.
    He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well.
    • 1859–1860, William Hamilton, edited by H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC:
      They have floundered on from blunder to blunder.
    • 1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 136:
      He is assessing directions, but he is not lost, not floundering.
    • 1886, Algernon Charles Swinburne, The Age of Shakespeare, John Webster:
      an assassin who misses his aim and flounders into penitence much as that discomfortable drama misses its point and stumbles into vacuity
    • 2007, Neal Cassady, “Letter to Allen Ginsberg, May 15, 1951”, in Anne Waldman, editor, The Beat Book: Writings from the Beat Generation:
      […] I'm floundering at sloppy deliberation in the choice of every new word, and thus damned up in my soul is left to rot. The limit of my foremind to tap and drain onto paper any flow from my residue of self-saturated thoughts is usually half a page at any one sitting.
  2. (intransitive) To flop around as a fish out of water.
  3. (intransitive) To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
    Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.
  4. To be in serious difficulty.
    • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 159:
      Meanwhile bus and tram competition was causing the Central London Railway to flounder after its early success, and as for the City & South London ... that had always floundered.
Usage notes
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  • Frequently confused with the verb founder. The difference is one of severity; floundering (struggling to maintain a position) comes before foundering (losing it completely by falling, sinking or failing).
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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References

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  • “flounder”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “flounder”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ “flynder” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog
  3. ^ “flounder”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  4. ^ “flounder”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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flounder

  1. Alternative form of flowndre
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