as in muttering
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as in stuttering
to speak with many pauses and repetitions
He stammers when he's nervous.
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Recent Examples of stammering
Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2025
The stammering old man is trying to be a Tamburlaine.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Even characters like Lauren Domingue — sweet, stammering, fearful Lauren, who is not boring, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2025
The stammering old man is trying to be a Tamburlaine.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stammering
Verb
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Europe will make an effort—stuttering maybe—to stand on its own two feet.—
Kamal Ahmed,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
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Athletes like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and George Springer have been open about stuttering issues in the past.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Mustafa said as the man trotted down the stairs, mumbling something—a prayer, a curse.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
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Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Atlanta police officers responding to the scene found Leon sitting on the ground in handcuffs, acting belligerently and attempting to stand while mumbling.—
CBS News Atlanta Digital Team,
CBS News,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Drivers reported stalling, sputtering and newly illuminated check engine lights shortly after refueling their vehicles.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
6 Mar. 2026
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Other factors from rising natural gas prices to the explosion of data centers across the country are also responsible for breathing life back into the sputtering coal industry.—
Simmone Shah,
Time,
3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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First-time nominee Jordan could ride this wave in a now wide-open Best Actor race, as Timothée Chalamet has been faltering.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
2 Mar. 2026
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African democracies are faltering, some ceding ground to Russia and China.—
Alexanderia Baker-Haidara,
semafor.com,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The Wild are very hesitant to part with Russian rookie center Danila Yurov, whose development in his first year playing in North America has been impressive.—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
1 Mar. 2026
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Angela Hassell, the executive director of Loaves and Fishes, offered both hesitant support for and doubts about the safe camping site.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Many pharmaceutical company executives, physicians, and patient advocates all recently took part in a Senate hearing on how FDA bureaucracy is halting innovation.—
Ian Thomas,
CNBC,
3 Mar. 2026
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Without a substantially wetter winter next year, though, the dam near the Utah-Arizona line could face a real prospect of halting production and raising electricity prices from metro Phoenix to the Navajo Nation and around the rural West.—
Brandon Loomis,
AZCentral.com,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Recent years have been boom times for language that is inarticulate on purpose.—
Megan Garber,
The Atlantic,
24 Feb. 2026
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There are a few inarticulate screams and sobs but no dialogue, no lyrics, no spoken intro, no utterances at all.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stammering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stammering. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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