stammering 1 of 2

adjective

as in muttering

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stammering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of stammer
as in stuttering
to speak with many pauses and repetitions He stammers when he's nervous.

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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 stammering
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
Verb
After all, some in the party are still smarting about the 2008 presidential primary and more than a few are still stammering about the 2016 one. — Philip Elliott, Time, 3 Aug. 2026 Probst glides through his dialogue for the day in a single take, without stopping or even stammering. — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stammering
  1. stuttering
  2. mumbling
  3. sputtering
  4. faltering
  5. hesitant
  6. halting
  7. inarticulate
Adjective
  • Windows Vista and its early WDDM woes had reduced my previously badass main PC with two Nvidia 7900GT cards in SLI to a stuttering BSOD-spitting mess, and the future of Microsoft OSes looked bleak—Windows 7 wouldn’t be along to change the situation for years.
    — Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 6 May 2026
Definition of stuttering
Verb
  • Later that day, Rowley was drenched in sweat, rocking back and forth and mumbling incoherently as the poison – later identified as Novichok, a Russian nerve agent – took hold of him, too.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 11 July 2026
  • Next up, maybe lawmakers can do something about overly soft, mumbling dialogue preceded by deafening explosions.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2026
Definition of mumbling
Adjective
  • America’s cost-of-living concerns and a bond market meltdown aren’t functions of a sputtering economy that’s running out of gas.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The Chargers, meantime, opened with three losses for the first time since 2017, and feature a listless, sputtering offense that lacks finish under first-year offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of sputtering
Adjective
  • Today, the mechanisms that contained the initial energy shock are faltering.
    — RICHARD HAASS, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Of course, that means little when even Coker’s career-high performance was not enough for the Panthers’ faltering defense, which gave up a franchise record 59 points.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of faltering
Adjective
  • Other lawmakers were hesitant to support a repeal but said there should be significant changes.
    — Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Students waiting outside my office to ask a hesitant question that lead them to another.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of hesitant
Adjective
  • The proposals envision halting attacks on energy infrastructure, which have caused fuel shortages in Russia and power outages in Ukraine, and on Black Sea shipping needed to get vital grain exports to world markets.
    — HANNA ARHIROVA, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
  • New local agencies became responsible for halting chronic groundwater declines.
    — Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of halting
Adjective
  • The cloud was blank and inarticulate, a monolith with no secrets to reveal to any of its human witnesses.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Just as between them William James and Michael Oakeshott told us that there is no such thing as unmediated experience, so, surely, there is no such thing as inarticulate thought.
    — Richard Lansdown, The New York Review of Books, 25 June 2026
Definition of inarticulate

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Cite this Entry

“Stammering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stammering. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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