as in to hesitate
to come to a temporary halt in one's activity
he paused for a moment to regain his composure
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in lull
a momentary halt in an activity
there was a brief pause for applause in her speech
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hesitation
a state or an instance of temporary inaction because of uncertainty about the right course of action
the question caught the professor off guard, and there was a pause before he responded
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pause
Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 20 June 2025
Whether in leadership, personal relationships, coaching or teamwork, knowing when not to speak, when to pause and how to hold silence is just as vital as finding the right words.
—Gamze Acar Bayraktaroglu, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 19 June 2025
Every click, every scroll, every pause in your reading creates value for tech companies while simultaneously training systems that will predict and influence your future choices.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pause
Verb
After pausing his conceptual menswear label in 2019, Benan resurfaced, quietly, with B+, a new line built on luxurious menswear conveying an attitude, which was eventually rebranded under the Umit Benan moniker with the D Capital acquisition, the fund’s first in the fashion space.
—Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 20 June 2025
Whether in leadership, personal relationships, coaching or teamwork, knowing when not to speak, when to pause and how to hold silence is just as vital as finding the right words.
—Gamze Acar Bayraktaroglu, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
Noun
The clock is ticking down on Trump's 90-day pause on those tariffs — but institutional investors are actually growing more enthusiastic about emerging markets, according to Bank of America's most recent Fund Manager Survey.
—Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 19 June 2025
Every click, every scroll, every pause in your reading creates value for tech companies while simultaneously training systems that will predict and influence your future choices.
—Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pause
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pause
Verb
-
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) hesitated to affirm his support for Schumer’s continued leadership.—
W. James Antle III,
The Washington Examiner,
13 June 2025
-
Tehran would not hesitate to target all U.S. bases in the region, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh said.—
Spencer Kimball,
CNBC,
11 June 2025
Noun
-
As the game moved into the second quarter, the Thunder stayed in control as both teams went through a shooting lull.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
5 June 2025
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More recently, Mount Etna has been active in the past few months, with this eruption being the 14th episode since March 2025 after a 19-day lull.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
4 June 2025
Noun
-
Most purchases aren’t made through a purely logical process but are influenced by how customers feel in the moment—whether a price excites them, creates hesitation or triggers an impulse buy.—
Anton Timashev,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2025
-
The memory of what happened the last time around might be contributing to the hesitation.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
Verb
-
He was later fired for misconduct stemming from the case and broke his silence in a series of interviews after Read's verdict was announced, after he was not invited to take the stand in her second trial.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
21 June 2025
-
The idea was that a group of military commandos would break quarantine and try to get to the place where the virus had originated, in order to find a cure.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
21 June 2025
Noun
-
Seeing what my chest looked like took my breath away.—
Mindie Kaplan,
Flow Space,
16 June 2025
-
Stanko's execution just one of four this week Stanko's final breaths came during a busy week for the death penalty in the U.S., with four executions between Tuesday and Friday.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
Noun
-
Unlike Southampton, who promptly dispatched their second manager of this season, Ivan Juric, immediately after relegation was confirmed, there has been a hesitancy about making a change.—
Rob Tanner,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
-
The filmmakers went beyond celebrities and experts, also talking to regular people, including some residents of the Bay Area, about their own hesitancy, and how their views have or have not changed.—
Harriet Blair Rowan,
Mercury News,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
There will be an increase in traffic and interruptions from June 20 to July 10.—
Caché McClay,
USA Today,
18 June 2025
-
Effective leaders refine their risk-transfer practices to safeguard against disruptions and ensure long-term supply chain resilience by seeking coverage for cyber, directors’ and officers’ liability, business interruption, environmental, terrorism, public liability and reputational risk.—
John M. Bremen,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
Noun
-
Boomers are more likely to emphasize resilience, self-reliance, and the belief that personal struggles should be handled privately, that seeking help is a weakness, resulting in a hesitance to seek external support like therapy.—
Suzanne Blake,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
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However, there was hesitance among owners to strip division champions of their first-round home-field advantage, prompting the modification to reseed after the wild-card round.—
Jayna Bardahl,
New York Times,
20 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pause.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pause. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.
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