stutter
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
stutters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stuttered,
past participle, past
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stuttering
present participle
noun
-
stutters
plural
verb
-
to speak (a word, phrase, etc) with recurring repetition of consonants, esp initial ones
-
to make (an abrupt sound) repeatedly
the gun stuttered
noun
-
the act or habit of stuttering
-
a stuttering sound
Usage
What does stutter mean? Stutter is to speak in a way in which the flow of speech is interrupted by repetitions, blocks, or prolonged sounds, as in He became so nervous that he started to stutter. Stutter also refers to this distortion of speech, as in My uncle was talking to the man with a stutter. The most commonly known form of stuttering is repetitions, either of partial words, as in I n-n-n-need water, or entire words, as in My-my-my back hurts. Two other forms of stuttering include prolonged sounds or syllables, as in Sssssshe is nice to me or blocks, which are stops when a person is struggling to get a word out. The word stammer is often used as a synonym for stutter, especially to describe temporary breaks in speech. However, stutter describes a wider range of speech distortions. Example: The girl hated speaking in front of the class because her shyness made her stutter and repeat her words.
Synonym Usage
See stammer.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stuttersimple
-
stutterssimple
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have stutteredperfect
-
has stutteredperfect
-
am stutteringprogressive
-
are stutteringprogressive
-
is stutteringprogressive
-
have been stutteringperfect progressive
-
has been stutteringperfect progressive
Past
-
stutteredsimple
-
had stutteredperfect
-
was stutteringprogressive
-
were stutteringprogressive
-
had been stutteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stutter
First recorded in 1520–30; earlier stut ( Middle English stutten “to stutter”) + -er 6; compare Dutch stotteren, Middle Low German stotern in the same sense
Explanation
If you've ever heard a young child stammer and trip over his words, you know what it means to stutter. Use the verb stutter when someone gets stuck on certain word sounds, either because she's speaking too quickly or eagerly, or because she has an actual speech disorder, also called a stutter. The word itself is somewhat onomatopoeic — a word that sounds like what it means — with its repeated t sounds. Stutter is thought to be related to the Middle Low German word stoten, "to knock or strike against," which is the way a stutterer's words sometimes sound.
Vocabulary lists containing stutter
Long Way Down
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Purple Hibiscus
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Chapter 4: Mesopotamia
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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:
MacCallum pressed him on campaign finance and high-profile donors, and El-Sayed did not stutter or retreat.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
His nephew Griffin Bremner said he felt the plane stutter and the propellers slow down, then his uncle turned to him and said, “Griffin, we’re cooked!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The audio has a distinctly early-2000s quality to it, reminiscent of the days when incoming calls caused nearby speakers to violently stutter.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
"I have a speech impediment, I stutter, so for people who feel like they're not the 'typical' host, I want this to feel like a home."
From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026
He fumbled for a pulse, felt for a heart beat, prayed for a stutter, or a limp, or a song of flowers.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
—European equities were mixed in early trade as a rally in technology stocks stutters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
When China’s economy stutters, one major consumer class keeps spending: the country’s older households.
From Barron's ● Nov. 28, 2025
Her first interviewee stutters, “Uh, heaven, heaven is, uh, um, let me see.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025
As life in Spain and Portugal stutters back to normal, the big questions are not just what went wrong but how to prevent such a full-scale power failure from happening again.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2025
Steadying Kelvin, she stutters, “He won’t carry his inhaler. I warned him. ‘Air’s clean.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Asian stocks stuttered Wednesday as investors fought to claw back the previous day's steep tech losses, with focus turning to US inflation data and upcoming earnings from key AI-linked firms.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
European equities fell in opening trade as a rally in technology stocks stuttered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The France captain stuttered in his run up, looked up at goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, and saw his tame penalty easily saved.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
My line stuttered forward and flopped onto the water with all the stealth of a cannonball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Then he stuttered, “Aber...but are you nicht in Belgium? The officer, the auto, they were not coming? Your escape was not working?”
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
The outflows have come as Chinese policymakers have struggled to sustain a post-pandemic economic revival, with annual growth slowing, consumption stuttering and property sector debt mounting.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Built around a stuttering, jazzy chord progression, Stand On It was one of the standouts on KWN's debut EP, With All Due Respect, released last June.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
The clinical consensus is unanimous: demonstrate acceptance, minimize reactions and don’t let the child feel your anxiety, because the worry can make stuttering worse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
SoftBank shares have declined by more than a fifth in the last five trading sessions as speculation about its difficulty in raising a loan coincides with some stuttering in the overall narrative forAI-related technology stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
He wasn’t compelled to offer stuttering apologies for trespassing or to make a hasty, panicked retreat in the heroic fashion of his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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