as in falters
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
I didn't hesitate to tell them that what they were doing was wrong and that I wanted no part of it
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Recent Examples of hesitates
But Andreia Alexander, an ER doctor in Indiana, told me that patients should not want a doctor who hesitates to save their life.
—
Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2025
Lower will talk about work all day but hesitates to reveal much about Britt L’s outie.
—Julian Sancton, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025
Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2025
Lower will talk about work all day but hesitates to reveal much about Britt L’s outie.
—Julian Sancton, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hesitates
Verb
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Confidence falters as the moon meets Venus.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
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Where government funding falters, private industry must become a vital partner to bridge the gap.—
Denis Mandich,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The world waits for a compelling example of humanoid robots saving a customer money in a defensible way.—
Jeff Mahler,
Forbes,
23 Dec. 2024
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Compiled annually by a group led by Franklin Leonard, a recipient of a Gotham tribute award this year, Variety waits with childlike anticipation each year to see which scripts film executives have really been buzzing over — but haven’t had the budget or the chutzpah to put into production just yet.—
Matt Donnelly,
Variety,
10 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Hesitates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hesitates. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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