stammering 1 of 2

adjective

as in muttering

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stammering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of stammer
as in stuttering
to speak with many pauses and repetitions He stammers when he's nervous.

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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 stammering
Adjective
Even characters like Lauren Domingue — sweet, stammering, fearful Lauren, who is not boring, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2025 The stammering old man is trying to be a Tamburlaine. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
After all, some in the party are still smarting about the 2008 presidential primary and more than a few are still stammering about the 2016 one. — Philip Elliott, Time, 3 Aug. 2026 Probst glides through his dialogue for the day in a single take, without stopping or even stammering. — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stammering
  1. stuttering
  2. mumbling
  3. sputtering
  4. faltering
  5. hesitant
  6. halting
  7. inarticulate
Adjective
  • Windows Vista and its early WDDM woes had reduced my previously badass main PC with two Nvidia 7900GT cards in SLI to a stuttering BSOD-spitting mess, and the future of Microsoft OSes looked bleak—Windows 7 wouldn’t be along to change the situation for years.
    — Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 6 May 2026
Definition of stuttering
Verb
  • Later that day, Rowley was drenched in sweat, rocking back and forth and mumbling incoherently as the poison – later identified as Novichok, a Russian nerve agent – took hold of him, too.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 11 July 2026
  • Next up, maybe lawmakers can do something about overly soft, mumbling dialogue preceded by deafening explosions.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2026
Definition of mumbling
Adjective
  • On a day that Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis threw two interceptions and lost a fumble and again generally struggled, coach Jeff Hafley said the turnovers are not acceptable and made clear the team’s sputtering passing game must be better.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 2026
  • America’s cost-of-living concerns and a bond market meltdown aren’t functions of a sputtering economy that’s running out of gas.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of sputtering
Adjective
  • Politicians may read those numbers and think twice before stepping in to rescue faltering AI firms.
    — RUCHIR SHARMA, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2026
  • This time, after being four outs from stealing Game 1 before faltering, then pulling off an epic Game 2 win, the Phillies reverted to their worst selves in Game 3.
    — Matt Gelb, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of faltering
Adjective
  • Chang was still hesitant to believe that Raman was actually going to win, having watched Hong’s polling advantage in Wisconsin evaporate.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • None of these feel significant to the business, but each one gives a hesitant buyer a reason to pause, and pauses are where deals go to die.
    — Dr. Sariki Abungwo, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of hesitant
Adjective
  • Zacharia’s first briefing drew scrutiny for halting remarks, a brief appearance and questions from only three conservative-leaning or Trump-friendly outlets.
    — Will Weissert, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The institution opened in 2021 before halting programming in 2022 at the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, and is funded by billionaire Leonid Mikhelson’s V-A-C Foundation.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of halting
Adjective
  • The cloud was blank and inarticulate, a monolith with no secrets to reveal to any of its human witnesses.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Just as between them William James and Michael Oakeshott told us that there is no such thing as unmediated experience, so, surely, there is no such thing as inarticulate thought.
    — Richard Lansdown, The New York Review of Books, 25 June 2026
Definition of inarticulate

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Cite this Entry

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

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