1
as in stumbled
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually
unprepared choristers who floundered helplessly through the musical number
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in shuffled
to move heavily or clumsily
the car floundered through the heavy wet snow, constantly getting stuck
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of floundered
Leadership upheaval has inevitably confused the Athleta brand and after being a star while its parent floundered, two years into Dickson’s tenure the tables have turned.
—
Mark Faithfull, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The booster catches have been one of the bright spots for the Starship program as progress on the rocket's upper stage floundered.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2025
Sitting 5 1/2 games out of the final Wild Card spot with a 64-66 record, the Rangers have floundered at a critical time, losing their past four series while on a 3-11 skid coming into Friday’s game.
—Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Aug. 2025
The rest of the bullpen, which has been rocky of late, maneuvered through the remainder of the game, keeping it in check, but Boston’s offense floundered.
—Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
Efforts to end property levies with ballot measures have floundered for the same reason, and some politicians who pitch abolition face related accusations that eliminating property taxes will inevitably lead to higher sales taxes.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 19 Aug. 2025
Ryan Gerard took dead aim, but his drive floundered into the wind and splashed into water short of the green.
—Bennett Conlin, Baltimore Sun, 15 Aug. 2025
Initially hailed as a major growth opportunity, the collaboration floundered under operational pressure and insufficient returns.
—Ashley Lutz, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2025
The bill later passed the Senate as Democratic opposition floundered.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 2025
Mark Faithfull, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
The booster catches have been one of the bright spots for the Starship program as progress on the rocket's upper stage floundered.
—Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2025
Sitting 5 1/2 games out of the final Wild Card spot with a 64-66 record, the Rangers have floundered at a critical time, losing their past four series while on a 3-11 skid coming into Friday’s game.
—Lawrence Dow, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Aug. 2025
The rest of the bullpen, which has been rocky of late, maneuvered through the remainder of the game, keeping it in check, but Boston’s offense floundered.
—Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
Efforts to end property levies with ballot measures have floundered for the same reason, and some politicians who pitch abolition face related accusations that eliminating property taxes will inevitably lead to higher sales taxes.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 19 Aug. 2025
Ryan Gerard took dead aim, but his drive floundered into the wind and splashed into water short of the green.
—Bennett Conlin, Baltimore Sun, 15 Aug. 2025
Initially hailed as a major growth opportunity, the collaboration floundered under operational pressure and insufficient returns.
—Ashley Lutz, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2025
The bill later passed the Senate as Democratic opposition floundered.
—Mark Davis, Newsweek, 15 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for floundered
Verb
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And arguing with the benefits of a difficult tuneup game can be a useless point, especially as Napier stumbled in from a practice that ran almost 10 minutes long, gearing up for USF.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Closer Bryan Abreu stumbled but has earned the benefit of the doubt with the dominance he’s displayed.—
Chandler Rome,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Budget cuts are about to bring big changes to San Diego’s 37 neighborhood library branches — including shorter hours, shuffled staff and rescheduled activities.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Over the past two months, he’s been shuffled through three detention centers despite attempts to pay a bond set by the immigration judge.—
Ashleigh Fields,
The Hill,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Most notably, the Chargers struggled to contain Mahomes in the pocket.—
Jesse Newell,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
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Fighter jets have long struggled to integrate AI into radar systems due to limited space, power, and processing capacity.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Many in Hollywood were dubious as to whether Universal and Amblin could reboot the Jurassic franchise for a third time, and birth a new trilogy more than three decades after Steven Spielberg’s dinos first stomped onto the big screen in 1993’s Jurassic Park.—
Pamela McClintock,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Sep. 2025
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People expecting a state championship rematch between Benet and Marist in the Crimson Classic finals had those plans stomped upon Saturday when Lockport ended up surprising the Redwings 29-27, 18-25, 15-10 in the semifinals.—
Jeff Vorva,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Floundered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/floundered. Accessed 12 Sep. 2025.
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