noun
Meaning 1
An act of hesitating
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
hesitation
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˌhɛzɪˈteɪʃən/
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California, Southern: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian: /ˌhezɪˈtæɪʃən/
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New-Zealand: /ˌhezəˈtæɪʃən/
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rhymes with -eɪʃən
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CMU ARPABET: HH EH2 Z AH0 T EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Doubt; vacillation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- She carried out the order without hesitation.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A faltering in speech; stammering.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
the act of pausing uncertainly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- there was a hesitation in his speech
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: waver, falter, faltering
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: pause
noun
Meaning 5
a certain degree of unwillingness
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a reluctance to commit himself
- his hesitancy revealed his basic indisposition
- after some hesitation he agreed
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: reluctance, hesitancy, disinclination, indisposition
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: unwillingness, involuntariness
Narrower terms: sloth, slothfulness
noun
Meaning 6
indecision in speech or action
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: vacillation, wavering
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: indecision, indecisiveness, irresolution
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Latin haereō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -tō ▲ Latin -tō Latin -itō Latin -titō Latin haesitō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin haesitātiōbor. English hesitation From Latin haesitātiōnem, accusative singular of haesitātiō (“hesitating, stammering”), from haesitō (“hesitate”). Displaced native Old English ġewand.
Across languages
Translations
65 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: ndrojtje — doubt; vacillation
- Esperanto: hezitado — doubt; vacillation
- German: Zögern — doubt; vacillation
- Tamil: தயக்கம் (tayakkam) — doubt; vacillation
- Turkish: duraksama — doubt; vacillation
- Turkish: tereddüt — doubt; vacillation
- Albanian: drojë — act of hesitating
- Azerbaijani: tərəddüd — act of hesitating
- Bulgarian: колебание (kolebanie) — act of hesitating
- Bulgarian: нерешителност (nerešitelnost) — act of hesitating
- Catalan: hesitació — act of hesitating
- Catalan: vacil·lació — act of hesitating
- Chinese Mandarin: 躊躇 /踌躇 (chóuchú) — act of hesitating
- Chinese Mandarin: 猶豫 /犹豫 (yóuyù) — act of hesitating
- Chinese Mandarin: 遲疑 /迟疑 (chíyí) — act of hesitating
- Chinese Mandarin: 彷徨 (pánghuáng) — act of hesitating
- Czech: váhání — act of hesitating
- Dutch: aarzeling — act of hesitating
- Esperanto: ĉi hezito — act of hesitating
- Finnish: empiminen — act of hesitating
- Finnish: epäröinti — act of hesitating
- French: hésitation — act of hesitating
- Galician: vacilación — act of hesitating
- German: Zögern — act of hesitating
- Greek: δισταγμός (distagmós) — act of hesitating
- Ancient Greek: ὄκνος (óknos) — act of hesitating
- Hindi: संकोच (saṅkoc) — act of hesitating
- Hungarian: habozás — act of hesitating
- Hungarian: hezitálás — act of hesitating
- Hungarian: bizonytalankodás — act of hesitating
- Indonesian: keragu-raguan — act of hesitating
- Italian: esitazione — act of hesitating
- Japanese: 躊躇 (chūcho) — act of hesitating
- Japanese: ためらい (tamerai) — act of hesitating
- Northern Kurdish: dudilî — act of hesitating
- Northern Kurdish: dilwasî — act of hesitating
- Latin: cunctātiō — act of hesitating
- Latin: haesitātiō — act of hesitating
- Luxembourgish: Zécken — act of hesitating
- Old English: ġewand — act of hesitating
- Polish: wahanie — act of hesitating
- Polish: niezdecydowanie — act of hesitating
- Portuguese: hesitação — act of hesitating
- Romanian: ezitare — act of hesitating
- Romanian: șovăială — act of hesitating
- Russian: нереши́тельность (nerešítelʹnostʹ) — act of hesitating
- Scottish Gaelic: sgogarsaich — act of hesitating
- Scottish Gaelic: sòradh — act of hesitating
- Spanish: hesitación — act of hesitating
- Spanish: titubeo — act of hesitating
- Swedish: tvekan — act of hesitating
- Tamil: தயக்கம் (tayakkam) — act of hesitating
- Turkish: tereddüt — act of hesitating
- Bulgarian: заекване (zaekvane) — faltering in speech
- Chinese Mandarin: 支吾 (zhīwu) — faltering in speech
- Chinese Mandarin: 吞吐 (tūntǔ) — faltering in speech
- Chinese Mandarin: 口吃 (kǒuchī) — faltering in speech
- Chinese Mandarin: 結巴 /结巴 (jiéba) — faltering in speech
- Czech: zaváhání — faltering in speech
- Finnish: takeltelu — faltering in speech
- German: Zögern — faltering in speech
- Hindi: झिझक (jhijhak) — faltering in speech
- Northern Kurdish: heziqîn — faltering in speech
- Scottish Gaelic: sòradh — faltering in speech
- Tamil: தடுமாற்றம் (taṭumāṟṟam) — faltering in speech
Real reading context