Word a Day
hesitate
What does hesitate mean?
hesitate (verb): pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness.
Definition: Princeton WordNet 3.1.
How do you use hesitate in a sentence?
- Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures. (Princeton WordNet 3.1)
How do you pronounce hesitate?
/ˈhɛzəˌteɪt/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does hesitate come from?
Borrowed from Latin haesitātus, perfect passive participle of haesitō, intensive of haereō (“to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Words related to hesitate
From Princeton WordNet 3.1.
Test yourself: do you know “hesitate”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “hesitate” mean?
to travel by operating a wheeled motorized vehicle
Not quite: that's what drive means.
to take control of; to seize by force or stratagem
Not quite: that's what capture means.
to move from one place to another; to redistribute
Not quite: that's what shift means.
pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
Right! That's what “hesitate” means.
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