flounder
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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flounders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
floundered,
past participle, past
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floundering
present participle
-
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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flounder,
plural
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flounders
plural
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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.
-
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
-
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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floundersimple
-
flounderssimple
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have flounderedperfect
-
has flounderedperfect
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am flounderingprogressive
-
are flounderingprogressive
-
is flounderingprogressive
-
have been flounderingperfect progressive
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has been flounderingperfect progressive
Past
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flounderedsimple
-
had flounderedperfect
-
was flounderingprogressive
-
were flounderingprogressive
-
had been flounderingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
“The Little Sister” grows even more intriguing once the love affair runs aground, forcing Fatima to flounder in her heartache.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
As for the stuffed flounder, he said those staffers were returning from a work conference and could spend their per-diem food allowance as they wished.
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
It had always been Tree-ear who skipped out to the beach at the first word of a flounder run, and he had never returned without a fat fish or two for a rare feast.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
As Target flounders, some competitors are growing fast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Still, Muncy figures to be a linchpin in the Dodgers’ long-term potential at the plate — with his recovery growing ever-steadily in importance as the rest of the lineup flounders in his wake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2025
Once her campaign flounders following an expected primary loss in her home state, South Carolina, she will want to preserve her chance to run again in 2028.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024
South Korea's central bank raised its policy interest rate by an unprecedented half point on Wednesday, aiming to pull inflation from 24-year highs while balancing fear of a sharp economic downturn as business activity flounders.
From Reuters ● Jul. 13, 2022
Old platter-foot Doxology was daintily nibbling hay from the manger with lips like two flounders.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Attempts to mend US-South Africa relations have floundered.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
The Bucks floundered without him and the coach paid the price.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026
Countries that industrialized, prospered; those that failed to industrialize, floundered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Borthwick, whose side have floundered in defeats by Scotland and Ireland in the past two rounds of the Six Nations, said the pressure that comes with being an England coach is a constant.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
A few frogs lost their heads and floundered among the feet and got through and these were saved.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
He was the emotionally tortured and volatile chef who left behind a rising career in Michelin-starred restaurants to return to Chicago, his hometown, to run his recently deceased brother’s floundering sandwich joint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
Crucially, the firm also is bullish on Intel’s foundry business, which was seen as a floundering effort as recently as last year.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
After more than a decade of failed attempts to raise money, blown deadlines and rebrands, it had been floundering.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
To catch up, Volkswagen has sought to insulate its floundering Chinese business from the Eurocentric designs and slow decision-making of its German headquarters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Peninsula Luggage was floundering, and they could no longer afford our mortgage and my sister's college tuition.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
