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There’s nothing fishy about flounder... the verb, that is. While the noun referring to a common food fish is of Scandinavian origin, the verb flounder, which dates to the late 16th century, is likely an alteration of an older verb, founder. The two verbs have been confused ever since. Today, founder is most often used as a synonym of fail, or, in contexts involving a waterborne vessel, as a word meaning “to fill with water and sink.” Formerly, it was also frequently applied when a horse stumbled badly and was unable to keep walking. It’s likely this sense of founder led to the original and now-obsolete meaning of flounder: “to stumble.” In modern use, flounder typically means “to struggle” or “to act clumsily”; the word lacks the finality of founder, which usually suggests complete collapse or failure, as that of a sinking ship.
Examples of flounder in a Sentence
Alexis Simmerman, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
Main courses ranged from seared flounder filet and smoked trout to Angus rib-eye steak and roast leg of lamb.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 June 2025
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
Bennett had five coaches in six Calgary seasons and his career was floundering before coming to the Panthers.
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for flounder
Cite this Entry
“Flounder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flounder. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flounder
1 of 2 noun
flounder
2 of 2 verb
Noun
Middle English flounder "a flatfish"; of Scandinavian origin
Verb
probably an altered form of founder
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