flounder

¹ American  

[floun-der] / ˈflaʊn dər /

verb (used without object)

1. to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements (usually followed by about, along, on, through, etc.).

   He saw the child floundering about in the water.

2. to struggle clumsily or helplessly.

   He floundered helplessly on the first day of his new job.

   Synonyms:

   muddle, waver, falter

3. to be in imminent danger of failure.

   The negotiations floundered primarily on the question of extending regional autonomy.

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flounder ² American  

[floun-der] / ˈflaʊn dər /

noun

plural

flounder,

plural

flounders

1. a European, marine flatfish, Platichthys flesus, used for food.

2. any of numerous similar or closely related non-European flatfishes.

3. any flatfish other than soles.

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flounder ¹ British  

/ ˈflaʊndə /

verb

1. to struggle; to move with difficulty, as in mud

2. to behave awkwardly; make mistakes

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noun

1. the act of floundering

flounder ² British  

/ ˈflaʊndə /

noun

1. Also called: fluke.  a European flatfish, Platichthys flesus having a greyish-brown body covered with prickly scales: family Pleuronectidae : an important food fish

2. any flatfish of the families Bothidae (turbot, etc) and Pleuronectidae (plaice, halibut, sand dab, etc)

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Usage

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

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

Example Sentences

By 2017, one of its early projects, called Universe, which aimed to train AI agents to play games and use computers like humans, was floundering.

From The Wall Street Journal

Countries that industrialized, prospered; those that failed to industrialize, floundered.

From The Wall Street Journal

Having only one friend that you depend on for everything can leave a person floundering if something happens to that person.

From The Wall Street Journal

And in floundering the ending, “Undertone” reminds us that tranquility can be far more unsettling than a cacophony of sight and sound.

From Salon

When I went up to pull them over, floundering in the deep snow, they ignored me, tried to shrug away my hand.

From Literature

Related Words

• flop
• stumble
• wallow