maunder
Americanverb (used without object)
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to talk in a rambling, foolish, or meaningless way.
-
to move, go, or act in an aimless, confused manner.
He maundered through life without a single ambition.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of maunder
First recorded in 1615–25; origin uncertain
Explanation
When you maunder, you talk in a rambling mutter. People being questioned by reporters should try to answer articulately — they shouldn't just maunder in response. The difference between a great speech and an interminably boring one is that a good speaker keeps it short (and often funny), but a bad one tends to maunder in a mumbling voice. A novelist who tends to have her characters maunder on endlessly needs a skilled editor. Although maunder sometimes also means "wander aimlessly," it doesn't come from the similar meander but probably from a root meaning "to beg."
Vocabulary lists containing maunder
The Woman in White
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A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
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The Cruel Prince
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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.
The second half of the picture tends to maunder a little, and the whole film is afflicted by Producer David Selznick's rather tacky preference for gnarled trees silhouetted against flaming sunsets.
From Time Magazine Archive
Horsemen sputter and maunder when asked to specify reasons for the success of the few truly great riders.
From Time Magazine Archive
There they paid $1 apiece for the benefit of the French Hospital, were permitted last week to maunder through two small rooms hung with 51 modernist French paintings of the first rank.
From Time Magazine Archive
Not a creature to speak to, except, now and then, Clara coming down to maunder and sigh over all she has to do, and my father, who has been thoroughly in a rage about Elliot.
From The Two Guardians or, Home in This World by Yonge, Charlotte Mary
She mutters and digs and buries it deep— The little green leaves are wild on the trees— And nearer and nearer the noises creep, That gibber and maunder and whine and weep ...
From Weeds by the Wall Verses by Cawein, Madison Julius
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.
