stammer
Americanverb (used without object)
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stammers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stammered,
past participle, past
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stammering
present participle
verb (used with object)
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stammers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stammered,
past participle, past
-
stammering
present participle
noun
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stammers
plural
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a stammering mode of utterance.
-
a stammered utterance.
verb
noun
Usage
What does stammer mean? To stammer is to speak with involuntary breaks or pauses or involuntarily repeated words or parts of words. In text, it is often represented with hyphens, as in s-s-s-safe to represent a struggle to pronounce the s- sound. A stammer is a way of speaking with a stammer, as in Kim spoke with a stammer, but it didn’t define him. To stammer is also to say something with a stammer, as in Lawrence was so nervous during his presentation that he stammered out the first part of his speech. Stutter is a synonym of stammer and is preferred in technical usage. Example: Everytime we have to present to the board, I get so nervous that I start to stammer.
Synonym Usage
Stammer, stutter mean to speak with some form of difficulty. Stammer, the general term, suggests a speech disfluency that results in broken or inarticulate sounds and sometimes in complete stoppage of speech; it may be temporary, caused by sudden excitement, confusion, embarrassment, or other emotion, or it may be persistent and require speech therapy for its correction. Stutter, the parallel term preferred in technical usage, designates a broad range of speech production disturbances that produce spasmodic interruptions of the speech rhythm, repetitions, or prolongations of sounds or syllables: The child's stutter was no mere stammer of embarrassment.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stammersimple
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stammerssimple
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have stammeredperfect
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has stammeredperfect
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am stammeringprogressive
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are stammeringprogressive
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is stammeringprogressive
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have been stammeringperfect progressive
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has been stammeringperfect progressive
Past
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stammeredsimple
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had stammeredperfect
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was stammeringprogressive
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were stammeringprogressive
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had been stammeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stammer
First recorded before 1000; Middle English verb stammeren, Old English stamerian (cognate with German stammern ), equivalent to stam “stammering” + -erian -er 6; akin to Old Norse stamma “to stammer,” Gothic stams “stammering”
Explanation
To stammer — or to have a stammer — is to speak haltingly and to have trouble getting the words out. A stammer is also called a "stutter." Stammering (or stuttering) has a couple of related meanings. A stammer is a serious problem for some people who have great difficulty speaking. They have trouble getting the words out, and their language does not flow. They might get stuck repeating one sound over and over again. This is a difficult problem to overcome. However, we all stammer sometimes, often because we're confused, scared, tired, or unsure of what to say.
Vocabulary lists containing stammer
"My Favorite Chaperone," Vocabulary from the short story
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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Achievement First 6th Grade IA 1 Words
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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:
Hansen would then make a dramatic entrance and interrogate the men, who would often stammer and bumble through the encounter before leaving.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
The late Queen's speech to both houses of Congress in 1991 was the first because her father George VI in 1939 had refused to make a speech, worrying about how his stammer might be perceived.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
Now, Gellar has made a more ceremonious return, albeit with a frustrating stop-and-start stammer.
From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2026
Jessie Stride, another contestant on this series of The Traitors, has a stammer and spoke on the show about struggling to pronounce her own name.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026
If I stammer with Dad, he gets that face he had when he got his Black & Decker Workmate home and found it was minus a crucial packet of screws.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
While Erika decries “retro sex negativity,” Elliot stammers, “My peers have not been well-served growing up in a time where nothing feels safe or OK.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
"I've had lots of people with stammers reach out, which is just really nice," says Jessie.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2026
Britt stammers in response: “I don’t always—you know, yes, I cook Sunday nights for dinner, but I was about to say, I don’t always crush it.”
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2025
“I … I … I can’t ….go to work,” one stammers in German.
From Seattle Times ● May 28, 2024
That expression of his used to terrify me into stammers.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
“Well, we really need to look at that,” Bass stammered before asking Raman if she was “getting ready to resign” from them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
The clip featured influencer Jessie Yendle struggling to pronounce a sound as she stammered, before the repetition transitioned into the start of a popular TikTok dance track playing over footage of striker Serhou Guirassy.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2025
I stammered inane commentary as my eyes tried to refocus.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
Often speaking in Tajik through a translator, he answered questions about his biography quietly and stammered, according to Mediazona.
From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2024
“I—I really appreciate this, Mrs. Eggers,” I stammered.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
Smith, as you might expect, was confused by this line of questioning, stammering that he didn’t recall attending any Hawks games.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
But when they do, it’s like watching a magic trick play out before your eyes, leaving you so stunned you’re stammering, unable to utter even a single “How?”
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
The stammering from the first date became full-blown speechlessness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026
After one of his sketches, the actual Sid Caesar might ever so briefly, in a stammering voice, appear before a commercial break to say: “We’ll be right back.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
I had read with awe how the Communists had sent phonetic experts into the vast regions of Russia to listen to the stammering dialects of peoples oppressed for centuries by the czars.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
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