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
  • On a day that Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis threw two interceptions and lost a fumble and again generally struggled, coach Jeff Hafley said the turnovers are not acceptable and made clear the team’s sputtering passing game must be better.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of sputtering
Adjective
  • Means, from his perch, had pushed back on characterizations that the MAHA movement was faltering, serving as an insider voice witnessing Kennedy at work.
    — Chelsea Cirruzzo, STAT, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Politicians may read those numbers and think twice before stepping in to rescue faltering AI firms.
    — RUCHIR SHARMA, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of faltering
Adjective
  • Producers could use advanced technology to increase the recovery rate, but that requires major investments, which companies are hesitant to make in a country led by a government with a history of breaking contracts and current instability.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Former Hartford Association of Teachers President Carol Gale was not so hesitant.
    — Theo Peck-Suzuki, Hartford Courant, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of hesitant
Adjective
  • Ben-Gvir, dressed in a white shirt and white kippah, speaks halting English.
    — Eric Cortellessa, Time, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Zacharia’s first briefing drew scrutiny for halting remarks, a brief appearance and questions from only three conservative-leaning or Trump-friendly outlets.
    — Will Weissert, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 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 26 Oct. 2026.

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