as in hesitated
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
she hung back in offering her opinion about her daughter's career choices because it wasn't her business
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hung back
Verb
-
The international community has not hesitated to recognize genocide in other contexts.—
Faisal Kutty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025 -
Democrats who come off poorly in it have not hesitated to disagree with her.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
With a chance to win a three-game series at Los Angeles and make a last-minute statement, Jax faltered.—
Dan Hayes,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Years later, Rick Ankiel, a Cardinals pitcher, could no longer throw strikes—yet, when he was moved to the outfield, his accuracy rarely faltered from a greater distance.—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
28 Sep. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Hung back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hung%20back. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share