PAUSING Synonyms: 24 Similar and Opposite Words

pausing

verb

present participle of pause

as in hesitating

to come to a temporary halt in one's activity he paused for a moment to regain his composure

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of pausing This is a common leadership blind spot—especially among high performers—where admitting any vulnerability, or even pausing, feels indistinguishable from weakness. — Julian Hayes Ii, Forbes.com, 25 July 2026 The team’s business side prepared for the best, pausing season-ticket sales to see what happened in free agency, as a LeBron return would be a financial boon the organization could easily take advantage of with higher prices. — David Aldridge, New York Times, 25 July 2026 Wu vowed at last week’s vigil that the city would conduct an analysis of road design at the corridor where Gag was killed and recommit to bike lanes and street safety projects that she has been hammered for pausing in the wake of Gag’s death. — Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 22 July 2026 Then Eckhardt, with her electric guitar, began to ascend the crane, pausing to perform rock-star maneuvers. — Lauren Oyler, New Yorker, 20 July 2026 Visitors wandered between polished European roadsters, American muscle cars and quirky classics, often pausing to chat with owners and snap photos. — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 20 July 2026 The Little Women Oscar nominee and Peaky Blinders star kept their midday pizza date casual, pausing in a park to sit on a bench together. — Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 20 July 2026 But even from a distance, people were pausing to snap photos and call out his name. — Tibisay Zea, Christian Science Monitor, 15 July 2026 If 2025 was the year AI infiltrated every corner of consumer life — from social feeds to shopping — 2026 is the year people are pausing for thought. — Amy O’Brien, Vogue, 14 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pausing

hesitating

Verb

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