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floundering

floun·der
F f

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [floun-der]
    • /ˈflaʊn dər/
    • /ˈflaʊn.dər/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [floun-der]
    • /ˈflaʊn dər/

Definitions of floundering word

  • verb without object floundering to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements (usually followed by about, along, on, through, etc.): He saw the child floundering about in the water. 1
  • verb without object floundering to struggle clumsily or helplessly: He floundered helplessly on the first day of his new job. 1
  • noun floundering Present participle of flounder. 1
  • noun floundering The act of one who flounders; a clumsy struggle. 0

Information block about the term

Origin of floundering

First appearance:

before 1570
One of the 33% oldest English words
1570-80; perhaps blend of flounce1 and founder2

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Floundering

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

floundering popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 90% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

floundering usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for floundering

adjective floundering

  • dotard — a person, especially an old person, exhibiting a decline in mental faculties; a weak-minded or foolish old person.
  • unhandy — not skillful in manual work: He's unhandy when it comes to fixing things around the house.
  • klutzy — clumsy; awkward: If you weren't so klutzy you wouldn't have dropped it.
  • motiveless — something that causes a person to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.; incentive.

Top questions with floundering

  • what does floundering mean?
  • what is the meaning of floundering?

See also

Matching words

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