floundered

past tense of flounder

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of floundered These teams typically floundered on and off the ice, draining the revenue-sharing pool and rarely fielding Stanley Cup contenders. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 29 Sep. 2026 And yet when Winston took over for Dart in Monday’s first quarter, and as the Giants’ offense floundered while falling behind big, Beckham was nailed to the bench. — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026 The tech giants surged to all-time highs this week, a surprising show of strength given that the group has floundered for much of this year with the artificial intelligence trade broadening away from megacaps. — Sarah Min, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026 Europe’s carmakers have floundered in the face of these changes. — Andrew McAfee, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2026 The books might not be a one-to-one, but Phillips wrote about the high life around him as his own family finances floundered in the shadow of the Great Depression. — Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Sep. 2026 The Indiana Fever floundered in a home game against the Washington Mystics, losing 93-77 on Sunday. — Tilly Robinson, IndyStar, 21 Sep. 2026 Plaintiffs are so far hard to find Trump’s other tools to impose his protectionist agenda already have floundered in court. — Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026 Plaintiffs are so far hard to find Trump’s other tools to impose his protectionist agenda have already floundered in court. — Paul Wiseman, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for floundered
Verb
  • Colorado stumbled out of its Big 12 opener with a 23-13 loss to Baylor, dropping Coach Prime's Buffaloes to 2-2 and looking like (potentially) the worst team in the conference.
    — Amber Harding OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • A couple of years later, Noah Kravitz of Oxford, unaware of Müyesser and Pokrovskiy’s solution, stumbled on Graham’s conjecture in an online archive of unsolved problems.
    — Shalma Wegsman, Quanta Magazine, 28 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The longtime headquarters of CBS News’s most hallowed properties—60 Minutes and Inside Edition—was recently hollowed out in a Paramount acquisition that saw personalities and producers shuffled to a center across the street.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The dispute has caused confusion for over a million potential voters who could be shuffled among districts.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Bryce Young has struggled against man-to-man defenses, completing just over 40 percent of his passes this year against that scheme, and Cleveland has played man on about half of its defensive snaps this year.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 27 Sep. 2026
  • South Africa has struggled with violent crime for years, but recent shootings have shocked a country used to some of the highest homicide rates in the world.
    — Gerald Imray, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • As a result, the Great Lawn had to be shut down two months ealier for repairs and resodding after tens of thousands of concertgoers stomped it into a muddy mess.
    — Lincoln Anderson, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Letter writers recalled how Paden saved his father’s life when a cow nearly stomped him to death in a field, after the elder Paden came between the cow and her calf.
    — Glenn Rice, Kansas City Star, 21 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Floundered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/floundered. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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