Synonyms of floundering

floundering 1 of 2

adjective

as in failing

Related Words

• failing
• struggling
• dying
• languishing
• declining
• unsuccessful
• bankrupt
• depressed
• insolvent
• unprosperous
• bankrupted

Dissimilar Words

• successful
• thriving
• flourishing
• booming
• healthy
• golden
• prosperous
• roaring
• halcyon
• lush
• substantial
• palmy
• prospering
• rich
• wealthy
• affluent
• moneyed
• opulent
• well-to-do
• comfortable
• boomy
• well-heeled
• well-off

floundering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of flounder

1

as in struggling

to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually

unprepared choristers who floundered helplessly through the musical number

Synonyms & Similar Words

• struggling
• stumbling
• blundering
• shuffling
• trudging
• limping
• fumbling
• bumbling
• lurching
• plodding
• lumbering
• faltering
• reeling
• jogging
• flogging
• swaying
• shambling
• wallowing
• tottering
• staggering
• muddling
• teetering
• weltering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• flying
• sailing
• coasting
• gliding
• zooming
• zipping
• kilting

2

as in shuffling

to move heavily or clumsily

the car floundered through the heavy wet snow, constantly getting stuck

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shuffling
• stumbling
• stomping
• lurching
• barging
• trudging
• sloughing
• dragging
• hauling
• shambling
• weaving
• scuffling
• stamping
• pounding
• stumping
• plodding
• lumbering
• tramping
• lumping
• slogging
• staggering
• galumphing
• clumping
• scuffing
• flogging
• flopping
• reeling
• swaying
• blundering
• tottering
• waddling
• tromping
• teetering
• careening
• wobbling
• doddering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sliding
• coasting
• gliding
• floating
• drifting
• hanging
• whisking
• hovering
• waltzing
• breezing
• wafting
• poising

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of floundering

Adjective

One of the many clever strokes in Andrew O’Hagan’s 2024 novel Caledonian Road was casting his floundering, public intellectual hero as the author of a best-selling biography of Johannes Vermeer. — Susan Tallman, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026

Or maybe this team just looked itself in the mirror and made the corrections that could have saved a floundering season. — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 31 Jan. 2026

Verb

Elsewhere in the interview, Dyna pushed back on speculation that Mitte’s career had been floundering since Breaking Bad, and that his finances were shaky. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Oct. 2026

Google seemed hopelessly far behind, while Meta, despite spending billions to revive its floundering AI ambitions, had yet to establish itself as a serious contender. — Robert Hart, The Verge, 14 Oct. 2026

The unrest has fired the starting gun on what promises to be a vicious race between the far right and far left for the presidency, with much of the center floundering in the polls. — Melissa Bell, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026

The Angels, floundering toward another last-place finish, fired Minasian in June. — Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Yet some in the party say there is no upside for candidates in close races to leave the campaign for an event in another state with a president floundering in polls ‒ and there are questions about who will attend. — Zac Anderson, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) are up more than 4% this month, after floundering for much of this year. — Sarah Min, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026

But please, save us from the talking points around the 'Protect College Sports Act' that is currently floundering around the Senate. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2026

In 2024, early data on the vaccine served as a turning point for the floundering field. — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 19 Aug. 2026