hesitate
[verb]
Synonyms:
- waver, delay, dither (chiefly Brit.), doubt, hum and haw, pause, vacillate, wait
- be reluctant, balk, be unwilling, demur, hang back, scruple, shrink from, think twice

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Related Words: balk, boggle, demur, scruple, stick, stickle, fluctuate, oscillate, swing, dawdle, delay, dillydally, hang back, procrastinate, stall, temporize, pause

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English Thesaurus: pause, hesitate, have/take a break, adjourn, take five, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

hes‧i‧tate W3 /ˈhezəteɪt, ˈhezɪteɪt/ verb
[Date: 1600-1700; Language: Latin; Origin: past participle of haesitare 'to stick firmly, hesitate', from haerere 'to stick']

1. [intransitive] to pause before saying or doing something because you are nervous or not sure:
Kay hesitated for a moment and then said ‘yes’.
hesitate about/over
He was still hesitating over whether to leave or not.

2. don’t hesitate to do something used to tell someone that it is correct or right for them to do something and they do not have to worry about offending anyone:
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any more information.
—hesitatingly adverb

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

hesitate
verb
ADV. briefly, a little, (for) a minute/moment/second, momentarily Alison hesitated a moment, as if she were waiting for him.
VERB + HESITATE appear to, seem to | make sb Something about his smile made her hesitate.
PREP. about I didn't hesitate about working with Craig.
between He was hesitating between a glass of wine and an orange juice.
over He stood hesitating over whether to join the fight.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

pause to stop speaking or stop doing something for a very short time before starting again. Pause is used especially in written descriptions. In everyday spoken English, people usually just say stop:
She paused at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at the clock.
He paused, waiting for Larry to say something.
hesitate to stop for a moment and wait before doing something, because you feel unsure or nervous about it:
She hesitated for a moment before replying.
have/take a break to stop working for a short time in order to rest, eat etc:
We’re all getting tired. Let’s take a break for ten minutes.
adjourn formal if a meeting or court adjourns or is adjourned, it stops for a short time:
If there are no more questions, the committee will adjourn until tomorrow morning.
The trial was adjourned because one of the defendants was ill.
take five especially American English informal to stop for a short time in order to rest:
Let’s take five and get some coffee.
break off to suddenly stop speaking, especially because you see, hear, or think of something:
He broke off his conversation when he saw Mary running towards him.
She broke off and looked embarrassed, then said, ‘I’ll explain later.’
a long pause
There was a long pause before anyone spoke.
a brief/short/slight pause
"Well, that was a surprise," he said after a brief pause.
a momentary pause (=very short)
There was a momentary pause during which Mr Hammond glanced at his wife.
an awkward pause
After an awkward pause, Ray began to answer my question.
a dramatic pause (=one that has a dramatic effect)
In the dramatic pause before she replied, you could feel the tension in the room.
a pregnant pause (=one that is full of meaning or emotion)
‘OK. Let’s move on,’ said the President after a pregnant pause.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲