STAMMERING Synonyms: 66 Similar and Opposite Words

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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Dissimilar Words

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

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

This season’s combination of a sputtering offense and a shaky bullpen – exposed again Sunday as the Brewers padded their lead in the late innings – is already way too stomach-churning for Dodger fans.

— Jim Alexander, Oc Register, 17 Aug. 2026
Trump spoke now not only to distract from his sputtering Iran war and its effects on the economy, but also because his attempts to concretely interfere with the 2026 election thus far have almost all failed.

— David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026

Definition of sputtering

Adjective

The film spells out the gargantuan payouts that each Boeing CEO has received, despite the crashes and questions about their actions and the company’s faltering value.

— Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026
In 2019 and again in 2020, the company launched a pair of spacecraft that latched onto faltering communication satellites and steered them, providing extra years of life.

— Marcia Dunn, Fortune, 22 July 2026

Definition of faltering

Adjective

Determined to find her in real life, Ted talks a hesitant Lenny into joining him on a road trip to Clearwater Beach, Florida.

— Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Aug. 2026
Determined to find her in real life, Ted talks a hesitant Lenny into joining him on a road trip to Clearwater Beach, FL.

— Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of hesitant

Adjective

DeChatelet, an acting instructor at Florida Atlantic University, uses his halting speech to depict a person who’s afraid of offending anyone.

— Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026
Such warnings from the administration were mentioned by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissent as evidence of the harm suffered by the states already, and reason for the lower court’s ruling halting implementation to hold.

— Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of halting

Adjective

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
Simpson, butched up and closed off and vibrating with inarticulate pain, is superb in the part, and Jimenez’s rigid shoulders and frozen face are wrenching.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 20 May 2026

Definition of inarticulate

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“Stammering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stammering. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of stammering

adjective

verb

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