flounders

verb

present tense third-person singular of flounder
1
as in stumbles
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually unprepared choristers who floundered helplessly through the musical number

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in shuffles
to move heavily or clumsily the car floundered through the heavy wet snow, constantly getting stuck

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 flounders Henry, the principal owner, has made Kennedy the team spokesman and Kennedy said he’s not focused on his own job security as the organization flounders into obscurity. — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 11 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flounders
  1. stumbles
  2. shuffles
  3. struggles
  4. stomps
Verb
  • The film will follow a boy (Leber), left to his own devices, who stumbles upon a secret late-night broadcast of lizards playing otherworldly music.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026
  • While going through Verity’s files, Lowen stumbles on her memoir, an alleged confession.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of stumbles
Verb
  • My brother looks at the floor, mumbles something, and then shuffles away from the table.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The line shuffles forward quickly, and my heart knots in my chest as Heartfillers are dosed to each person up ahead.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of shuffles
Verb
  • As energy supply struggles to keep pace with demand, those delays have drawn political attention and, finally, action, including significant legislation passed at the state level and a new bipartisan permitting reform bill proposed in the Senate.
    — Dr. Sarah Kapnick, semafor.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting across the region.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of struggles
Verb
  • At one point Evans stomps in to a Fielder secondary interview to try to stop it.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Godzilla Minus Zero stomps into theaters in Japan on November 3 and in North America on November 6.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of stomps

Browse Nearby Words

floundering
flounders
flourish
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Flounders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flounders. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of jilt

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All