Hesitation
[hezɪ'teɪʃn] or [,hɛzə'teʃən]
Definition
(noun.) the act of pausing uncertainly; 'there was a hesitation in his speech'.
(noun.) indecision in speech or action.
Editor: Marilyn--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of hesitating; suspension of opinion or action; doubt; vacillation.
(n.) A faltering in speech; stammering.
Edited by Astor
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Uncertainly, doubt, suspense, hesitancy, vacillation.[2]. Faltering, stammering, difficulty of utterance.
Typist: Rodger
Examples
- Mr. Bulstrode replied without haste, but also without hesitation. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I felt some hesitation in suggesting rank as high as the colonelcy of a regiment, feeling somewhat doubtful whether I would be equal to the position. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- This was the sum of my speech, delivered with great improprieties and hesitation. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- Sissy submitted, after a little hesitation, 'I should not be the worse, Miss Louisa. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- He then laid a telegraph from Washington to Baltimore under the auspices of the United States Government, which after long hesitation appropriated $30,000 for the purpose. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The great minister showed perceptible hesitation. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Mastering some hesitation, he answered, Miss Oliver, I presume. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Mr. Godfrey took advantage of this hesitation to get back again to his bedroom before you came out, and discovered him. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- After a few moments of painful hesitation, I broke the silence. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Mr. Hale's ever-ready sympathy with anything of shyness or hesitation, or want of self-possession, made him come to his aid. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Don't attach any weight to my hesitation. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The women's faces, as she paused interrogatively on the threshold, were a study in hesitation. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I know this is a confidence, she modestly said, after a little hesitation, and in earnest tears, I know you would say this to no one else. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- These changes were all made on my recommendation and without hesitation. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Almost for the first time in his life, Mr. Sedley found himself talking, without the least timidity or hesitation, to a person of the other sex. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- This had always been the conclusion of Will's hesitations. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- She knew Selden--she saw how the force of her faith in Lily must have helped to dispel his hesitations. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
Checker: Roland