Definition of hesitation
1
:an act or instance of hesitating
2
:a pausing or faltering in speech
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Examples of hesitation in a Sentence
one moment's hesitation on my part, and the elusive butterfly was lost to me forever
Recent Examples of hesitation from the Web
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Four plays after Northern Illinois recruit Charles Robinson forced a turnover on the Lancers' first play, Logan stepped into the spotlight with little hesitation.
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The answer to the first should be without hesitation — yes.
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But a civilized and peaceful society should be unequivocal in its denunciation and rebuke of the ideology of race supremacy, without hesitation.
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This tension compounded lingering suspicions over Trump’s hesitation to condemn a campaign endorsement, months earlier, from David Duke.
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At the turn of the 19th century, the population feared horseless carriages and elevators; now people utilize both technologies without hesitation.
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Without hesitation, the Accostings person on the other end of the conversation told her to come that evening for a job interview at 7pm.
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Jolie took it to Netflix, where chief creative officer Ted Sarandos signed on without hesitation.
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My hesitation was based solely on confusion of the contents of the 2005 tape and the hypothetical posed by the reporter, which was asked in a chaotic post-debate environment.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hesitation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of hesitation
14th century
hesitation Synonyms
Synonyms
faltering, fence-sitting, hesitance, hesitancy, indecision, irresolution, pause, shilly-shally, shilly-shallying, vacillation, wavering, wobbling (also wabbling)Related Words
delay, hawing, procrastination, waiting; arrière-pensée, misgiving, second thought; consideration, debate, deliberation, doubt, incertitude, indecisiveness, indetermination, uncertainness, uncertainty; avoidance, equivocation; aversion, disinclination, indisposition, reluctance, unwillingness; faintheartedness, shyness, timidity, timidnessNear Antonyms
certainty, certitude, confidence, decisiveness, determination, firmness, resoluteness, resolution, sureness; alacrity, eagerness, readinessLearn More about hesitation
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See words that rhyme with hesitation Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for hesitation Spanish Central: Translation of hesitation Nglish: Translation of hesitation for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of hesitation for Arabic speakers
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