hesitations
Moments of uncertainty
Hesitations are pauses or delays before acting or speaking, typically from uncertainty or reluctance.
The word captures moments of wavering: After a few hesitations, she agreed to the plan.
In speech, hesitations include the ums, uhs, and false starts that interrupt fluent delivery.
Without hesitation means immediately and decisively.
State of being unsure
- indecisionFailure to decide
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- vacillationInability to choose
- second-guessingReconsidering a decision made
misgivings · qualms · reservations · reluctance · ambivalence · questioning · skepticism · self-doubt
Intentional delay tactics
- procrastinationHabitual task avoidance
- foot-draggingDeliberate slowness or resistance
- ditheringProlonged indecisive hesitation
- dawdlingLeisurely time-wasting
postponement · holding back · waiting · hanging back · dragging feet · temporizing · delaying tactics · waffling
Temporary cessations of activity
- stammeringInvoluntary speech repetition
- stutteringInvoluntary speech disfluency
- umSpoken hesitation marker
- uhVocalized hesitation marker
faltering · stumbling · hem and haw · verbal tics · filler words · broken speech · halting · tongue-tied
Fear of performing publicly
- nervesTense apprehension
- freezingExtremely cold
- chokingBlocked airway condition
- blankingErasing or forgetting
missed cues · timing · stumble · flub · performance anxiety · blocking · forgotten lines · deer in headlights
uncertainty
State of being unsure
- indecisionFailure to decide
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- vacillationInability to choose
second-guessing · misgivings · qualms · reservations · reluctance · ambivalence · questioning · skepticism · self-doubt · torn
stalling
Intentional delay tactics
- procrastinationHabitual task avoidance
- foot-draggingDeliberate slowness or resistance
- ditheringProlonged indecisive hesitation
dawdling · postponement · holding back · waiting · hanging back · dragging feet · temporizing · delaying tactics · waffling · putting off
pauses
Temporary cessations of activity
- stammeringInvoluntary speech repetition
- stutteringInvoluntary speech disfluency
- umSpoken hesitation marker
uh · faltering · stumbling · hem and haw · verbal tics · filler words · broken speech · halting · tongue-tied · mumbling
stage fright
Fear of performing publicly
blanking · missed cues · timing · stumble · flub · performance anxiety · blocking · forgotten lines · deer in headlights · jitters
- setbacksfailing, back to square one, stuck, losing, stumbles
- speech fillersuh, um, er, hmm, like
- Speech termsstuttering, stammering, lisp, disfluency, blocks
- disfluencystutter, stammer, stammering, stuttering, disfluency
- annoyancesannoyance, annoyances, irritations, irritation, nuisance
- utterancesutterance, statements, exclamation, assertion, questions
hesitationsdecisions
Conclusions reached after consideration
resolutions · determinations · certainties · convictions · snap judgments
hesitationsconfidences
Private disclosures to another
assurances · certainties · convictions · sureness · self-assurance
hesitationsenthusiasms
Intense eager interests
eagerness · inclinations · readiness · willingness · alacrity