floundering

[floun-der-ing]

adjective

1. struggling, especially clumsily or helplessly.

   The vast leap from tonal music to modernism was left to the floundering student to make, unaided.

   These classic writing mistakes are guaranteed to unlock the door to instant failure and free you to flop like a floundering fish on the floor.

2. in imminent danger of failure or catastrophic loss.

   The floundering venture laid off half its 200 employees and its chairman resigned.

   The player’s 2017 campaign not only revived what looked like a floundering career, it proved to be one of the best he'd ever had in the big leagues.

noun

1. a clumsy, violent, or chaotic struggle.

   With many awkward flounderings, and much spluttering, I managed to keep barely afloat until I reached the shore.

   The floundering of the economy in the last decade has left many hardworking individuals without a job.

Other Word Forms

• flounderingly adverb
• unfloundering adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of floundering¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; flounder ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; flounder ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun sense

Example Sentences

Some think the floundering and flawed heroine, who's fixated with her weight and relationship status, is not the best role model.

Read more on BBC

Google will pay more than $40 million to support South African news media, many of them floundering in a digital age, the country's competition authority said Thursday.

Read more on Barron's

He has pledged to invest in increasing Bolivia’s floundering gas production.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"I was just kind of floundering career-wise. I wasn't making things I was passionate about."

Read more on BBC

While women’s relative economic position has improved, many men are floundering.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• amateurish 
• helpless 
• inadequate 
• incapable 
• ineffectual 
• inefficient 
• inept 
• inexperienced 
• unqualified 
• unskilled 
• useless