flounder

[floun-der]

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verb (used without object)

to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements (usually followed by about, along, on, through, etc.): He saw the child floundering about in the water.
to struggle clumsily or helplessly: He floundered helplessly on the first day of his new job.

Origin of flounder

1570–80; perhaps blend of flounce¹ and founder²

Related formsfloun·der·ing·ly, adverbun·floun·der·ing, adjective

Synonyms for flounder

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2. falter, waver, muddle.

flounder

[floun-der]

noun, plural (especially collectively) floun·der, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) floun·ders.

a European, marine flatfish, Platichthys flesus, used for food.
any of numerous similar or closely related non-European flatfishes.
any flatfish other than soles.

Origin of flounder

1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French floundre < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian flundra

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for flounder

wallow, flop, stumble, plunge, travail, tumble, toss, flummox, lurch, snafu, labor, toil, fumble, thrash, grope, blunder, muddle, strive, bobble, pratfall

Examples from the Web for flounder

Contemporary Examples of flounder

Instead, Bayou, Israel's hedge-fund group, continued to flounder and the deception only grew.
This Week’s Hot Reads: July 2, 2012
Mythili Rao
July 2, 2012
Why did Obama's White House flounder in its initial response to the economic crisis?
Blame the Weak Recovery on Larry Summers?
Noah Kristula-Green
February 28, 2012
China may flounder on the soccer field, but the country is in the grip of a mad World Cup fever.
China Goes Mad for Soccer
Dan Levin
June 26, 2010

Historical Examples of flounder

And with his head still turned, Andrew felt a shock and flounder.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Let dear Aristide flounder about; this only moulds young people.
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola
What we've done so far, you might best describe as flounder.
Project Mastodon
Clifford Donald Simak
If there was a sump-hole in sight, that horse was sure to flounder into it.
The Trail of '98
Robert W. Service
Only when she came to describe Bim and to tell of what he said, did she flounder.
The Book of All-Power
Edgar Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for flounder

flounder

verb (intr)

to struggle; to move with difficulty, as in mud
to behave awkwardly; make mistakes

noun

the act of floundering

Word Origin for flounder

C16: probably a blend of founder ² + blunder; perhaps influenced by flounder ²

usage

Flounder is sometimes wrongly used where founder is meant: the project foundered (not floundered) because of a lack of funds

flounder

noun plural -der or -ders

Also called: fluke a European flatfish, Platichthys flesus having a greyish-brown body covered with prickly scales: family Pleuronectidae : an important food fish
US and Canadian any flatfish of the families Bothidae (turbot, etc) and Pleuronectidae (plaice, halibut, sand dab, etc)

Word Origin for flounder

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse flythra, Norwegian flundra

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flounder

1590s, perhaps an alteration of founder (q.v.), influenced by Dutch flodderen "to flop about," or native verbs in fl- expressing clumsy motion. Figurative use is from 1680s. Related: Floundered; floundering. As a noun derived from this sense, from 1867.

flatfish, c.1300, from Anglo-French floundre, from Old North French flondre, from Old Norse flydhra; related to Middle Low German vlundere, Danish flynder; ultimately cognate with Greek platys "flat, wide, broad" (see plaice (n.)).