Synonyms of hesitating

hesitating 1 of 2

adjective

as in ambivalent

Related Words

• ambivalent
• shaky
• vacillating
• wavering
• random
• shilly-shally
• shilly-shallying
• aimless
• scattered
• stray
• haphazard
• uncertain
• unreliable
• desultory
• untrustworthy
• arbitrary
• undependable
• hit-or-miss
• erratic
• dicey
• slapdash
• inconsistent
• unpredictable
• volatile
• changeful
• variable
• irregular
• fluctuating
• unstable
• skittish
• capricious
• changeable
• mercurial
• unsettled
• fickle
• temperamental
• inconstant
• mutable
• unsteady
• versatile
• mobile
• adaptable
• fluid
• flickery
• protean

Dissimilar Words

• certain
• constant
• steady
• settled
• stable
• invariable
• even
• predictable
• stationary
• unchanging
• uniform
• unchangeable
• immutable
• persistent
• sure
• permanent
• unvarying
• changeless
• abiding
• lasting
• reliable
• durable
• true
• dependable
• tried
• equable
• trustworthy
• trusty
• tried-and-true

hesitating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of hesitate

as in faltering

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• faltering
• waiting
• vacillating
• pausing
• debating
• dithering
• wavering
• halting
• hanging back
• swaying
• staggering
• wobbling
• scrupling
• balancing
• teetering
• pondering
• lingering
• shilly-shallying
• delaying
• procrastinating
• deliberating
• dawdling
• hawing
• weighing
• considering
• hemming
• waffling
• equivocating
• backing down
• dallying
• oscillating
• hedging
• pussyfooting
• chickening (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• deciding
• plunging (in)
• diving (in)
• continuing
• stirring
• advancing
• budging

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of hesitating

Verb

With more than seven million people packed into over 9,000 high-rises, efficiency is key here, and people will judge you for holding up lines, hesitating with your Octopus card, or lingering over your dim sum table while others are waiting. — Lee Cobaj, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2026

But experts have worried that doctors are hesitating to offer treatment without an ironclad diagnosis, which clinicians say can take time and increase risks to the mother. — Andrea Suozzo, ProPublica, 9 Sep. 2026

Fertilizer is often bought months ahead of planting, so hesitating in the fall can mean less goes on the ground in the spring. — Jayash Paudel, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026

Cueto was known for hesitating while in his pitching motion, or wiggling on the mound. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2026

So electric power companies and regulators are cautious, hesitating to construct plants unless future demand is guaranteed. — Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2026

Suarez, not hesitating, took advantage and sent his shot soaring. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 2 Aug. 2026

While some may be looking for more reasons to eat cookies, many more are simply hesitating to eat salads and other fresh produce amid a multistate outbreak of cyclospora, known for that unpleasant symptom, among others. — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 22 July 2026

The book does often feel like a recording of a mental jam session, but there is also a sense of being guided by a kind of hesitating yet urgent voice that needs to get things figured out. — Craig Morgan Teicher, Literary Hub, 1 June 2026