as in failing
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1
as in struggling
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 shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily
the car floundered through the heavy wet snow, constantly getting stuck
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of floundering
Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 31 Jan. 2026
James Folta, Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
Trump reportedly sent her to help Ron DeSantis' floundering gubernatorial campaign.
—Doris Alvarez Cea, Florida Times-Union, 16 Mar. 2026
Nothing is certain, except the fact that the President is floundering, making conflicting statements from one day to the next about how long the war will last.
—John Cassidy, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
At her home on Vancouver Island, the Canadian-American actor spends her days scanning the chop for whales, not floundering swimmers.
—Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2026
The overall focus was overwhelmingly on fixing China’s floundering economy, with action to tackle unemployment, a depressed real estate market, and boosting innovation.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 6 Mar. 2026
But internally, the team was floundering.
—Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026
Still, the repurposing helps fill out the Gurnee mall while other shopping centers are floundering.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Hope kept the West Indies from floundering, opening the batting and hitting four sixes and six boundaries until he was bowled by Crishan Kalugamage in the 16th over.
—ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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
Ray has a sympathy for these floundering men, not as victims but as people relying on the wrong structures for support.
—James Folta, Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
Trump reportedly sent her to help Ron DeSantis' floundering gubernatorial campaign.
—Doris Alvarez Cea, Florida Times-Union, 16 Mar. 2026
Nothing is certain, except the fact that the President is floundering, making conflicting statements from one day to the next about how long the war will last.
—John Cassidy, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026
At her home on Vancouver Island, the Canadian-American actor spends her days scanning the chop for whales, not floundering swimmers.
—Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2026
The overall focus was overwhelmingly on fixing China’s floundering economy, with action to tackle unemployment, a depressed real estate market, and boosting innovation.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 6 Mar. 2026
But internally, the team was floundering.
—Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 27 Feb. 2026
Still, the repurposing helps fill out the Gurnee mall while other shopping centers are floundering.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
Hope kept the West Indies from floundering, opening the batting and hitting four sixes and six boundaries until he was bowled by Crishan Kalugamage in the 16th over.
—ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for floundering
Adjective
-
The state graded the campus an F for three consecutive years, meaning two more failing grades could trigger an intervention.—
Noah Alcala Bach,
San Antonio Express-News,
1 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Dave Walton, a corn, soybean, and hay farmer in Iowa and vice president of the American Soybean Association, said in March that some of his neighbors didn’t have cash on hand last fall to buy fertilizer and were struggling to budget for fertilizer due to high prices.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
-
But even a young woman struggling with the patriarchal conundrum of cool-girl syndrome (to be independent and accepted) might reveal more of a snappish turn of mind than Grace does.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
12 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Bruins are shuffling off to Buffalo.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
15 Apr. 2026
-
The Philadelphia Phillies are shuffling up the bullpen by sending Seth Johnson back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and recalling Chase Shugart from the IronPigs.—
Tom Dougherty,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Garden centers aren't giving a refund for a dying or dead plant but rather a discount on a new purchase.—
Lauren David,
Southern Living,
17 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Lina cried out, stumbling backward.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
-
Unlike the blue plaques affixed to residences in London, which indicate where notable figures once lived, or the Stolpersteine (or stumbling stones) embedded in the sidewalks of German cities to mark the former homes of Holocaust victims, Bucharest’s red disks are not commemorative but predictive.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That’s the sound of clogs slowly stomping back into the spotlight.—
Andrea Zendejas,
Vogue,
5 Apr. 2026
-
For pretty much every gamer alive today, those first few notes induce an almost Pavlovian response — sparking an urge to grab a controller on your lap that isn’t actually there and bringing to mind comfortable, warm memories of stomping Goombas and riding Yoshi on a quest to save Princess Peach.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The skyway corridors with highest density sit directly atop the most languishing streetscapes, Spencer said, and vice versa.—
Jared Kaufman,
Twin Cities,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
While pruning, remove any winter damage, along with dead and declining growths, to allow new shoots to reform the plant.—
Tom MacCubbin,
orlandosentinel.com,
6 Mar. 2021
-
In order to reopen, counties must demonstrate declining prevalence of COVID-19, testing ability of 30 tests per 10,000 residents per week, contact tracing and isolation facilities.—
Fox News,
Fox News,
15 May 2020
Cite this Entry
“Floundering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/floundering. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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