flounder
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements (usually followed by about, along, on, through, etc.).
He saw the child floundering about in the water.
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to struggle clumsily or helplessly.
He floundered helplessly on the first day of his new job.
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to be in imminent danger of failure.
The negotiations floundered primarily on the question of extending regional autonomy.
noun
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a European, marine flatfish, Platichthys flesus, used for food.
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any of numerous similar or closely related non-European flatfishes.
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any flatfish other than soles.
verb
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to struggle; to move with difficulty, as in mud
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to behave awkwardly; make mistakes
noun
noun
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Also called: fluke. a European flatfish, Platichthys flesus having a greyish-brown body covered with prickly scales: family Pleuronectidae : an important food fish
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any flatfish of the families Bothidae (turbot, etc) and Pleuronectidae (plaice, halibut, sand dab, etc)
Usage
Flounder is sometimes wrongly used where founder is meant: the project foundered (not floundered ) because of a lack of funds
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have flounderedperfect
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has flounderedperfect 3rd person singular
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am flounderingprogressive 1st person singular
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is flounderingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been flounderingperfect progressive
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flounderingparticiple
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has been flounderingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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flounderssingular 3rd person
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are flounderingprogressive
Past
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had flounderedperfect
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were flounderingprogressive plural
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was flounderingprogressive singular
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had been flounderingperfect progressive
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flounderedsimple
-
flounderedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of flounder1
First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps blend of flounce 1 and founder 2
Origin of flounder2
1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French floundre < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian flundra
Explanation
A flounder is a flat fish with both eyes on one side of its head; and, as a verb, to flounder is to wobble around like a fish out of water. To flounder is to be unsteady or uncertain. It's probably from the Dutch word flodderen, "to flop about," or it's a mix of founder ("to fail") and blunder ("do something clumsy"). If you flounder in the ocean, you need a surfer dude to scoop you up. You don't have to be in water, though; you can flounder any time you're a little wobbly — like after a long hike or during the last hour of the SATs. Either way, when you flounder, you wish you were a flat fish at the bottom of the sea.
Vocabulary lists containing flounder
List 2
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"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
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A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“If you want to have the stuffed flounder, buy it yourself,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
Or, with no party organisation behind him, he could flounder.
From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026
He didn’t even like seafood until puberty — “back then it was only flounder or sole for me” — but as an adult, he’s circled back to the foods of his childhood.
From Salon • Dec. 14, 2025
Without that motivation the project would flounder before it had even begun.
From BBC • Nov. 1, 2025
A run of flounder meant that a school of the tasty fish had come into shore far closer than usual; the waves even tossed fish right up on the beach.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
