stammer

[stam-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stammer ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to speak with involuntary breaks and pauses, or with spasmodic repetitions of syllables or sounds.

verb (used with object)

to say with a stammer (often followed by out).

noun

a stammering mode of utterance.

a stammered utterance.

Origin of stammer

before 1000; Middle English stammeren (v.), Old English stamerian (cognate with German stammern), equivalent to stam stammering + -erian -er⁶; akin to Old Norse stamma to stammer, Gothic stams stammering

Related formsstam·mer·er, nounstam·mer·ing·ly, adverbun·stam·mer·ing, adjectiveun·stam·mer·ing·ly, adverb

Can be confusedstammer stutter (see synonym study at the current entry)

Synonyms for stammer

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stammer ON THESAURUS.COM

1. pause, hesitate, falter. Stammer, stutter mean to speak with some form of difficulty. Stammer, the general term, suggests a speech difficulty that results in broken or inarticulate sounds and sometimes in complete stoppage of speech; it may be temporary, caused by sudden excitement, confusion, embarrassment, or other emotion, or it may be so deep-seated as to require special treatment for its correction. Stutter, the parallel term preferred in technical usage, designates a broad range of defects that produce spasmodic interruptions of the speech rhythm, repetitions, or prolongations of sounds or syllables: The child's stutter was no mere stammer of embarrassment.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for stammer

sputter, wobble, hesitate, repeat, halt, hammer, stop, lurch, stumble, pause, falter, jabber, splutter

Examples from the Web for stammer

Contemporary Examples of stammer

All she could stammer, however, was, “It would be an honor.”
Iran Hikers' Two-Year Ordeal
Ramin Setoodeh
September 14, 2011
As an adult, I have heard people affecting a stammer or a stutter.
How I Found My Voice
Carly Simon
June 7, 2009
This was the unhappy and astonishing birth of my stammer or at least my first gripping self-conscious awareness of it.
How I Found My Voice
Carly Simon
June 7, 2009
But I also had an index in the back of my diary that explained that famul meant stutter of stammer.
How I Found My Voice
Carly Simon
June 7, 2009

Historical Examples of stammer

But the wish to laugh had returned, and made her stammer, interrupting her at each word.
The Dream
Emile Zola
He backed, and began to stammer an apology; but she did not wait to hear a word of it.
Good Indian
B. M. Bower
He was alone, beside himself, with livid face and scarce able to stammer.
Fruitfulness
Emile Zola
The best he could do was to stammer a hope that she would not be obliged to sell the house.
Galusha the Magnificent
Joseph C. Lincoln
Her "guess" was so close to the truth that I could only stammer and hesitate.
The Rise of Roscoe Paine
Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for stammer

stammer

verb

to speak or say (something) in a hesitant way, esp as a result of a speech disorder or through fear, stress, etc

noun

a speech disorder characterized by involuntary repetitions and hesitations

Derived Formsstammerer, nounstammering, noun, adjectivestammeringly, adverb

Word Origin for stammer

Old English stamerian; related to Old Saxon stamarōn, Old High German stamm

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 stammer

Old English stamerian, from West Germanic *stamrojan (cf. Old Norse stammr, Old High German stam, Gothic stamms "stammering," Middle Dutch stameren, German stammeln "to stammer," Old Frisian and German stumm "dumb"), from PIE root *stam-, *stum- "check, impede" (see stem (v.)).

stammer in Medicine

stammer

[stăm′ər]

n.

A speech disorder characterized by hesitation and repetition of sounds, or by mispronunciation or transposition of certain consonants, especially l, r, and s.

v.

To speak with a stammer.