founder
1 Americannoun
verb (used without object)
-
founders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
foundered,
past participle, past
-
foundering
present participle
-
(of a ship, boat, etc.) to fill with water and sink.
-
to fall or sink down, as buildings, ground, etc..
Built on a former lake bed, the building has foundered nearly ten feet.
-
to become wrecked; fail utterly.
The project foundered because public support was lacking.
-
to stumble, break down, or go lame, as a horse.
His mount foundered on the rocky path.
-
to become ill from overeating.
-
Veterinary Pathology. (of a horse) to suffer from laminitis.
verb (used with object)
-
founders,
present (3rd person singular)
-
foundered,
past participle, past
-
foundering
present participle
-
to cause to fill with water and sink.
Rough seas had foundered the ship in mid-ocean.
-
Veterinary Pathology. to cause (a horse) to break down, go lame, or suffer from laminitis.
noun
noun
verb
-
(of a ship) to sink
-
to break down or fail
the project foundered
-
to sink into or become stuck in soft ground
-
to fall in or give way; collapse
-
(of a horse) to stumble or go lame
-
archaic (of animals, esp livestock) to become ill from overeating
noun
noun
noun
Usage
Founder is sometimes wrongly used where flounder is meant: this unexpected turn of events left him floundering (not foundering )
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
foundersimple
-
founderssimple
-
have founderedperfect
-
has founderedperfect
-
am founderingprogressive
-
are founderingprogressive
-
is founderingprogressive
-
have been founderingperfect progressive
-
has been founderingperfect progressive
Past
-
founderedsimple
-
had founderedperfect
-
was founderingprogressive
-
were founderingprogressive
-
had been founderingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of founder1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English found(o)ur, foundere, fundre “original builder of a city, church, castle, or city; founder of a country,” from Anglo-French fundur, from Old French fondeor, from Latin fundātōr-, stem of fundātor; see origin at found 1; see also -er 1 ( def. )
Origin of founder2
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English foundren, funder, fonder, from Old French fondrer “to plunge to the bottom, submerge,” from Vulgar Latin fundorāre (unattested), derivative of fundor-, an s -stem noun interpreted as stem of Latin fundus, actually an o -stem noun (stem fund- ) “bottom”
Origin of founder3
First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English foundour, founder, from Old French fondeur, from fondre “to melt, cast”; see origin at found 3, -er 1
Explanation
The person who creates an organization or a company is known as the founder. Founder is also a verb meaning "fail miserably," which is something a company's founder hopes the company will never do. As a noun, founder means "the beginner or originator of something." You might talk about the founder of a nation, the founder of club, or the founder of a website. As a verb, founder can mean “stumble,” like when you trip and fall, but more generally it means "collapse or fall apart." A sports team might founder by slumping on a ten-game losing streak; a ship that sinks in a bad storm can be said to have foundered at sea.
Vocabulary lists containing founder
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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:
"We were very surprised," he said of the moment Pinto was named as the founder of Football Leaks in 2019.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
“The more people who think about their health early, the better,” said Prenuvo founder and CEO Andrew Lacy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
But financial planner Matthew Chancey, founder of Tax Alpha Companies in Tampa, Fla., is a skeptic.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
The author is a singer, actor, writer and founder of Good Company Events.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
One of the more famous jumpers was Roy Raymond, founder of Victoria’s Secret.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
From 1979 to 1982, he was a member of the band Neon, which included Fisher and future Tears for Fears founders Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
The founders have since taken the idea beyond food.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
Before hiring, these founders are asking if AI can do the job instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Many of these first-generation founders are bad at hobbies.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
A town of eleven thousand, Garden City began assembling its founders soon after the Civil War.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
After nearly a year of sailing, the ship struck a reef in heavy storms and foundered on May 21, 1832.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Authentic specializes in acquiring and investing in famous retail properties that have foundered.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
Instead, they foundered in the breeze, squeezing out whatever bitter juice was left in a dirge that would prove to drag on for at least another week.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2026
They have delivered big, one-off victories in the Six Nations, but in the eight years on Townsend's watch, when the moment in the campaign has arrived to kick on and properly challenge, they have foundered.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2025
Black Star went down the line from pan to pan and nearly foundered himself.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
The commitments from senior management and an influential figure like Ma, who is no longer on the company’s board, helped to shore up Alibaba’s foundering share price.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
But by the time Polanco became a free agent last winter, his career was foundering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2025
The unusually large, half-point rate reduction is expected to be the first in a series of cuts, aimed at helping keep the economy and the labor market from foundering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2024
What’s more, in the Spy magazine era, Mr. Trump was just a local nuisance, a braggart presiding over a foundering casino-hotel empire.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2024
They slid across the snowdrifts smoothly, where the wheeled chariots were foundering and sinking.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
