HESITANT

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hesitant mean? 

• HESITANT (adjective)
  The adjective HESITANT has 1 sense:

1. lacking decisiveness of character; unable to act or decide quickly or firmly

  Familiarity information: HESITANT used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HESITANT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lacking decisiveness of character; unable to act or decide quickly or firmly

Synonyms:

hesitant; hesitating

Similar:

indecisive (characterized by lack of decision and firmness)

Derivation:

hesitance (a feeling of diffidence and indecision about doing something)

hesitancy (a certain degree of unwillingness)

hesitancy (a feeling of diffidence and indecision about doing something)

hesitate (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

 Context examples 

I should not have been so hesitant.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

So I stood, with hesitant knuckle, without her door.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

As I stood there, hesitant, I heard her cry softly: Oh, Humphrey, I am lost.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

If you have been unhappy or hesitant to commit to your steady, your doubts may grow and become more insistent, especially at the full moon lunar eclipse in Cancer on January 10.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Another portion of Aquarians who reported being unhappy with their present job said that they were hesitant to make a move in case they didn’t like the new position and then were trapped in it.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

All my aunts and uncles talked it over as if they were choosing a prep-school for me and finally said, "Why—ye-es" with very grave, hesitant faces.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)