Word Study
hesitation
CIDE DICTIONARY
hesitation, n. [L. haesitatio: cf. F. hésitation.].
- The act of hesitating; suspension of opinion or action; doubt; vacillation. [1913 Webster]
- A faltering in speech; stammering. Swift. [1913 Webster]
THESAURUS
hesitation
Fabian policy, Micawberism, abeyance, averseness, backwardness, balbuties, bashfulness, boggle, boggling, break, caesura, calculation, canniness, capriciousness, care, careful consideration, carefulness, caution, cautiousness, cease-fire, chance, chanciness, changeableness, circumspection, compunction, courtesan, day off, delay, deliberate stages, deliberateness, deliberation, demimondaine, demimonde, demirep, demur, demurral, diffidence, dilatoriness, discretion, doubt, drop, dubiety, dysphemia, erraticism, erraticness, falter, faltering, fancy woman, fickleness, gingerliness, guardedness, hedge, hedging, heed, heedfulness, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitating, hetaera, hold-off, holiday, incalculability, incertitude, indecision, indecisiveness, indemonstrability, indeterminacy, indetermination, indeterminism, indisposition, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermittence, interruption, interval, irresolution, judiciousness, kept, lapse, laxness, layoff, letup, luck, lull, mindfulness, mistrust, modesty, mugwump, objection, palilalia, pause, pawkiness, prior consultation, procrastination, protest, prudence, prudentialness, qualm, qualm of conscience, qualmishness, randomness, recess, recoil, regardfulness, reluctance, remission, remissness, respite, rest, safeness, safety first, scruple, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, shilly-shally, shilly-shallying, shrinking, shyness, slackness, slowness, slowness to act, solicitude, stall, stammer, stammering, stand-down, stay, stickling, stutter, stuttering, suspense, suspensefulness, suspension, temporization, tentativeness, thoroughness, to-and-fro, traulism, truce, unaccountability, uncertainness, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, uncommunicativeness, undecidedness, undeterminedness, unforeseeableness, unprecipitateness, unpredictability, unprovability, unsureness, unverifiability, vacation, vacillation, wavering, whimsicality, whoreROGET THESAURUS
hesitation
Stammering
N stammering, inarticulateness, stammering, hesitation, impediment in one's speech, titubancy, traulism, whisper, lisp, drawl, tardiloquence, nasal tone, nasal accent, twang, falsetto, broken voice, broken accents, broken sentences, brogue, slip of the tongue, lapsus linouae, stammering, inarticulate, guttural, nasal, tremulous, affected, sotto voce.Unwillingness
N unwillingness, indisposition, indisposedness, disinclination, aversation, nolleity, nolition, renitence, renitency, reluctance, indifference, backwardness, slowness, want of alacrity, want of readiness, indocility, scrupulousness, scrupulosity, qualms of conscience, twinge of conscience, delicacy, demur, scruple, qualm, shrinking, recoil, hesitation, fastidiousness, averseness, dissent, refusal, unwilling, not in the vein, loth, loath, shy of, disinclined, indisposed, averse, reluctant, not content, adverse, laggard, backward, remiss, slack, slow to, indifferent, scrupulous, squeamish, repugnant, restiff, restive, demurring, unconsenting, involuntary, unwillingly, grudgingly, with a heavy heart, with a bad, with an ill grace, against one's wishes, against one's will, against the grain, sore against one's wishes, sore against one's will, sore against one's grain, invita Minerva, a contre caeur, malgre soi, in spite of one's teeth, in spite of oneself, nolens volens, perforce, under protest, no, not for the world, far be it from me.Irresolution
N irresolution, infirmity of purpose, indecision, indetermination, undetermination, unsettlement, uncertainty, demur, suspense, hesitating, hesitation, hesitancy, vacillation, changeableness, fluctuation, alternation, caprice, fickleness, levity, legerete, pliancy, weakness, timidity, cowardice, half measures, waverer, ass between two bundles of hay, shuttlecock, butterfly, wimp, doughface, irresolute, infirm of purpose, double-minded, half-hearted, undecided, unresolved, undetermined, shilly-shally, fidgety, tremulous, hesitating, off one's balance, at a loss, vacillating, unsteady, unsteadfast, fickle, without ballast, capricious, volatile, frothy, light, lightsome, light-minded, giddy, fast and loose, weak, feeble-minded, frail, timid, wimpish, wimpy, cowardly, dough-faced, facile, pliant, unable to say 'no', easy-going revocable, reversible, irresolutely, irresolved, irresolvedly, in faltering accents, off and on, from pillar to post, seesaw, Int, how happy could I be with either!.Fear
N fear, timidity, diffidence, want of confidence, apprehensiveness, fearfulness, solicitude, anxiety, care, apprehension, misgiving, feeze, mistrust, suspicion, qualm, hesitation, nervousness, restlessness, inquietude, disquietude, worry, concern, batophobia, heartquake, flutter, trepidation, fear and trembling, perturbation, tremor, quivering, shaking, trembling, throbbing heart, palpitation, ague fit, cold sweat, abject fear, mortal funk, heartsinking, despondency, despair, fright, affright, affrightment, boof alarm, dread, awe, terror, horror, dismay, consternation, panic, scare, stampede (of horses), intimidation, terrorism, reign of terror, bug bear, bugaboo, scarecrow, hobgoblin, nightmare, Gorgon, mormo, ogre, Hurlothrumbo, raw head and bloody bones, fee-faw-fum, bete noire, enfant terrible, alarmist, fearing, frightened, in fear, in a fright, haunted with the fear of, afeard, afraid, fearful, timid, timorous, nervous, diffident, coy, faint- hearted, tremulous, shaky, afraid of one's shadow, apprehensive, restless, fidgety, more frightened than hurt, aghast, awe-stricken, horror-stricken, terror-stricken, panic- stricken, awestruck, awe-stricken, horror-struck, frightened to death, white as a sheet, pale, pale as a ghost, pale as death, pale as ashes, breathless, in hysterics, inspiring fear, alarming, formidable, redoubtable, perilous, portentous, fearful, dread, dreadful, fell, dire, direful, shocking, terrible, terrific, tremendous, horrid, horrible, horrific, ghastly, awful, awe-inspiring, revolting, Gorgonian, in terrorem, Int, angels and ministers of grace defend us!, ante tubam trepidat, horresco referens, one's heart failing one, obstupui steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit, a dagger of the mind, expertus metuit, fain would I climb but that I fear to fall, fear is the parent of cruelty, Gorgons and hydras and chimeras dire, omnia tuta timens, our fears do make us traitors.Uncertainty
N uncertainty, incertitude, doubt, doubtfulness, dubiety, dubitation, dubitancy, dubitousness, hesitation, suspense, perplexity, embarrassment, dilemma, bewilderment, timidity, vacillation, diaporesis, indetermination, vagueness, haze, fog, obscurity, ambiguity, contingency, dependence, dependency, double contingency, possibility upon a possibility, open question, onus probandi, blind bargain, pig in a poke, leap in the dark, something or other, needle in a haystack, needle in a bottle of hay, roving commission, precariousness, fallibility, uncertain, casual, random, changeable, doubtful, dubious, indecisive, unsettled, undecided, undetermined, in suspense, open to discussion, controvertible, in question, vague, indeterminate, indefinite, ambiguous, equivocal, undefined, undefinable, confused, mystic, oracular, dazed, perplexing, enigmatic, paradoxical, apocryphal, problematical, hypothetical, experimental, unpredictable, unforeseeable (unknowable), fallible, questionable, precarious, slippery, ticklish, debatable, disputable, unreliable, untrustworthy, contingent, contingent on, dependent on, subject to, dependent on circumstances, occasional, provisional, unauthentic, unauthenticated, unauthoritative, unascertained, unconfirmed, undemonstrated, untold, uncounted, in a state of uncertainty, in a cloud, in a maze, bushed, off the track, ignorant, afraid to say, out of one's reckoning, astray, adrift, at sea, at fault, at a loss, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, puzzled, lost, abroad, d_esorient_e, distracted, distraught, pendente lite, sub spe rati, Heaven knows, who can tell? who shall decide when doctors disagr.For further exploring for "hesitation" in Webster Dictionary Online