floundered

verb

past tense of flounder
1
as in stumbled
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually unprepared choristers who floundered helplessly through the musical number

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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

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 For nearly four years, Villa have represented reliability, emphasised by what has come of direct rivals who have floundered under the weight of change. — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026 Apple has also had commercial disappointments, like the Vision Pro headset, and floundered on its Siri assistant. — Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 25 July 2026 That company floundered in the pandemic, but Speier continued to make unrealistic promises to customers. — Julia Coin july 24, Charlotte Observer, 24 July 2026 But Klug wasn’t sure any individual Democrat could outrun the negative perception that pervades a state where the party has floundered of late. — Justin Papp, CNBC, 24 June 2026 That decline has done little to boost a Labour government that has floundered since winning election in July 2024. — ABC News, 11 June 2026 The three-time batting champion has thrived in areas where the Padres have floundered. — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 June 2026 The Broncos faltered in the snow, the Nuggets floundered on the hardwood, and now the Avalanche fail on ice. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 29 May 2026 But his solo career has floundered. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for floundered
  1. stumbled
  2. shuffled
  3. struggled
  4. stomped
Verb
  • Athletic Club stumbled through most of last season, in part due to star forward Nico Williams never reaching 100 per cent fitness.
    — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Andropov died in 1984, and Gorbachev took more than a year to gain power while the Kremlin stumbled along under the caretaker regime of the grievously ill Konstantin Chernenko.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of stumbled
Verb
  • The Playoff remains parked at 12 teams, and some G6 conferences shuffled teams, now including North Dakota State and Sacramento State.
    — Jason Kirk, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • Black voters were shuffled around Houston, with much of the previous 9th Congressional District becoming the new 18th District.
    — Rahul Mukherjee, NPR, 23 July 2026
Definition of shuffled
Verb
  • People half his age with serious mountain experience struggled and marvelled at him leading them to the top.
    — Andy Mitten, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Whisenhunt had struggled in his last three starts leading up to Tuesday, allowing 14 earned runs and walking nine batters over his last 11 2/3 innings.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of struggled
Verb
  • That was broken up by Owens, who stomped Gunther and then caught him with a big clothesline.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Ten members of a Pennsylvania high school football team, including several coaches, face charges after a player was allegedly stomped with cleats, and jabbed in the buttocks with a broomstick.
    — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 30 July 2026
Definition of stomped

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Cite this Entry

“Floundered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/floundered. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of floundered for Spanish Speakers

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