Hesitation
noun
noun ·4 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An act of hesitating countable, uncountable
- 2 the act of pausing uncertainly wordnet
- 3 Doubt; vacillation. countable, uncountable
"She carried out the order without hesitation."
- 4 a certain degree of unwillingness wordnet
- 5 A faltering in speech; stammering. countable, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
- 6 indecision in speech or action wordnet
Example
More examples"You should make sure of the fact without hesitation."
Etymology
From Latin haesitātiōnem, accusative singular of haesitātiō (“hesitating, stammering”), from haesitō (“hesitate”). Displaced native Old English ġewand.
Related phrases
More for "hesitation"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.