stammer

[stam-er]

verb (used without object)

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

   Synonyms: falter, hesitate, pause

verb (used with object)

1. to say with a stammer (often followed byout ).

noun

1. a stammering mode of utterance.

2. a stammered utterance.

stammer

/ ˈstæmə /

verb

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

noun

1. a speech disorder characterized by involuntary repetitions and hesitations

Other Word Forms

• stammerer noun
• stammeringly adverb
• unstammering adjective
• unstammeringly adverb
• stammering noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of stammer¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English verb stammeren, Old English stamerian (cognate with German stammern ), equivalent to stam “stammering” + -erian -er ⁶; akin to Old Norse stamma “to stammer,” Gothic stams “stammering”

Word History and Origins

Origin of stammer¹

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

Synonym Study

Stammer, stutter mean to speak with some form of difficulty. Stammer, the general term, suggests a speech disfluency 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 persistent and require speech therapy for its correction. Stutter, the parallel term preferred in technical usage, designates a broad range of speech production disturbances 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.

Example Sentences

At this the man blushed and stammered so much, he could barely find the key to the royal suite, but at last he did.

Read more on Literature

Miss Mortimer stammered, flummoxed, for this was not the sort of reply one would expect from a Swanburne girl.

Read more on Literature

“I—I cannot say, my lady,” Penelope stammered.

Read more on Literature

After one of his sketches, the actual Sid Caesar might ever so briefly, in a stammering voice, appear before a commercial break to say: “We’ll be right back.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That’s why, despite all of our biological programming and lived experience, a random question or interaction with a child will sometimes knock you on your back and leave you stammering.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• sputter 
• wobble 

When To Use

What does stammer mean?

To stammer is to speak with involuntary breaks or pauses or involuntarily repeated words or parts of words. In text, it is often represented with hyphens, as in s-s-s-safe to represent a struggle to pronounce the s- sound.A stammer is a way of speaking with a stammer, as in Kim spoke with a stammer, but it didn’t define him.To stammer is also to say something with a stammer, as in Lawrence was so nervous during his presentation that he stammered out the first part of his speech.Stutter is a synonym of stammer and is preferred in technical usage.Example: Everytime we have to present to the board, I get so nervous that I start to stammer.