falter

verb fal·ter \ ˈfȯl-tər \

Updated on: 7 Dec 2017

Definition of falter

faltered; faltering play \ˈfȯl-t(ə-)riŋ\

intransitive verb

1 a : to walk unsteadily : stumble

the … stranger falters out of the thicket and drops to his knees
—Dudley Fitts

b : to give way : totter

could feel my legs faltering

c : to move waveringly or hesitatingly

forced to bail out of faltering airplanes over the Alps
—Nat'l Geographic

2 : to speak brokenly or weakly : stammer

her voice faltered

3 a : to hesitate in purpose or action : waver

he never faltered in his determination

b : to lose drive or effectiveness

the business was faltering

transitive verb

: to utter hesitatingly or brokenly

faltered an excuse

—

falterer

play \ˈfȯl-tər-ər\ noun

—

falteringly

play \ˈfȯl-t(ə-)riŋ-lē\ adverb

See falter defined for English-language learners

See falter defined for kids

Examples of falter in a Sentence

The business was faltering due to poor management.
Their initial optimism has faltered.
signs that the economy is faltering
Her steps began to falter.

Recent Examples of falter from the Web

Mrazek is coming off a tough year that saw him falter both with the Wings and at the World Championship, and then exposed in the expansion draft.

— helene st. james, Detroit Free Press, "Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek to make season debut in Dallas," 10 Oct. 2017
The major reason is that other water sources have faltered.

— dale kasler and ryan sabalow, sacbee, "Once again, Southern California holds the key to a major California water project," 9 Oct. 2017
But the comeback faltered in the more recent Christmas season.

— star-telegram, "Toys R Us becomes latest retailer to file for bankruptcy," 18 Sep. 2017
The guys had some good rounds going, but faltered on the back nine and seemed to lose momentum.

— mobile athletics, AL.com, "Mobile Golf Competed in the Final Day of the RedHawk Fall Classic on Tuesday," 25 Oct. 2017
Poway needed a win last week to stay on track for next week’s game against Ramona, but the offense faltered against Vista.

— terry monahan, Pomerado News, "Broncos improving playoff chances," 25 Oct. 2017
The investigation faltered for 10 months, with no activity recorded.

— nina shapiro, The Seattle Times, "‘Everyone failed him’: Boy’s aunt accused of murder, DSHS accused of ‘critical errors’," 20 Sep. 2017
Gordon’s blast made the score 5-2 after Kennedy, returning from shoulder fatigue, yielded a two-run homer to Darwin Barney in the sixth and the bullpen faltered in the seventh.

— rustin dodd, kansascity, "Alex Gordon’s home run breaks a MLB record. It means little in Royals’ 5-2 loss," 19 Sep. 2017
Back to the Future 1-3 (July 1) Michael J. Fox's Marty McFly travels backwards, forwards, and then even further backwards in time in Robert Zemeckis' popular '80s sci-fi saga (which only severely falters in its third installment).

— nick schager, Esquire, "Here Are the Must-Stream Movies of July 2016," 30 June 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'falter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of falter

Middle English

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

falter Synonyms

Synonyms

balance, dither, hesitate, halt, hang back, scruple, shilly-shally, stagger, teeter, vacillate, waver, wobble (also wabble)

Antonyms

dive (in), plunge (in)

Related Words

haw, hem; dally, dawdle, delay, linger, pause, procrastinate, wait; back down, chicken (out); consider, debate, deliberate, ponder, weigh; oscillate, sway; equivocate, hedge, pussyfoot, waffle

Near Antonyms

decide; budge, stir; advance, continue

Synonym Discussion of falter

hesitate, waver, vacillate, falter mean to show irresolution or uncertainty. hesitate implies a pause before deciding or acting or choosing.

- hesitated before answering the question

waver implies hesitation after seeming to decide and so connotes weakness or a retreat.

- wavered in his support of the rebels

vacillate implies prolonged hesitation from inability to reach a firm decision.

- vacillated until events were out of control

falter implies a wavering or stumbling and often connotes nervousness, lack of courage, or outright fear.

- never once faltered during her testimony

falter

noun

Definition of falter

: an act or instance of faltering

Recent Examples of falter from the Web

First-period falter: The Wings had good offensive zone time and got the first four shots on net, only for the Leafs to take a 2-0 lead inside a minute.

— helene st. james, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Red Wings takeaways: Goaltending horrors in loss to Maple Leafs," 18 Oct. 2017
Clearinghouses, mostly used by banks and investment firms, are meant to help avoid a marketwide collapse by making sure that either party in a derivatives transaction is paid if the other side falters.

— gabriel t. rubin, WSJ, "Major Clearinghouses Can Avoid Liquidity Crunch in Crisis, CFTC Says," 16 Oct. 2017
But there's a wild beauty to more than match the narrative's falters.

— sheri linden, The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Tribes of Palos Verdes': Film Review | Hamptons 2017," 8 Oct. 2017
Rubicon is not a small startup that will fizzle into obscurity when its tech falters or its employees get laid off.

— polina marinova, Fortune, "Term Sheet — Tuesday, October 3," 3 Oct. 2017
If Apple falters, investors are likely to dump its stock after driving the shares up by 45 percent so far this year on the expectation that the iPhone X will be the company’s biggest hit yet. ___ Tali Arbel reported from New York.

— Washington Post, "Pressure mounts on Apple to live up to hype for the iPhone X," 2 Nov. 2017
Florida's defense will be enough to keep the team in this game should the offense falter, but will the offense score enough points behind either Feleipe Franks or Malik Zaire to take advantage of a good defensive performance?

— steven ruiz, USA TODAY, "College football Week 3 viewer's guide," 22 Sep. 2017
The expert balance McGregor/Colman have kept between surface control and underlying rage falters.

— john timpane, Philly.com, "'Lights Out' at People's Light: Dulé Hill in Nat 'King' Cole's agony and ecstasy," 19 Oct. 2017
Recent reports have shown some metrics, such as employment, holding strong while manufacturing falters and auto demand posts steep declines.

— amrith ramkumar, WSJ, "Bull Market in Uncertainty Propels Gold Rush," 24 Aug. 2017