Meaning & use
falter
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To lose strength, steadiness or confidence for a moment, so that movement or progress becomes uncertain.
Grammar: Takes no object: her steps faltered.
Patterns
- falter at something
- falter under something
The runner faltered near the finish line but kept going.
His courage faltered when he saw the size of the crowd.
The old engine faltered on the steep hill.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To speak with pauses or a shaky voice because you are nervous, emotional or unsure.
Grammar: Often intransitive: her voice faltered; sometimes with a quote: she faltered an apology.
Patterns
- someone's voice falters
Her voice faltered as she read the final line.
He began confidently, then faltered when the questions came.
"I did not mean to," she faltered.
verbintransitive
To become weaker or less successful over time, as an economy, plan or effort does.
Grammar: Subjects are often things like economies, campaigns or sales: sales faltered.
Patterns
- falter in something
The economy faltered after the factory closed.
Support for the plan faltered in the second year.
The campaign faltered when the funding ran out.
Word forms
| third person singular | falters |
|---|---|
| past tense | faltered |
| past participle | faltered |
| -ing form | faltering |
Common combinations
- falter slightly
- His voice faltered slightly during the toast.
- never falter
- Despite the pain, she never faltered.
- falter at the last hurdle
- The team faltered at the last hurdle.
- courage falters
- His courage faltered at the door.
- economy falters
- The economy faltered during the crisis.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hesitate
- Hesitate means to pause before acting, while falter means to lose strength or confidence while already moving.
- waver
- Waver suggests swinging between choices, whereas falter suggests weakening.
- stumble
- Stumble is more physical, a near trip, and falter can be physical or emotional.
- flag
- Flag means to grow tired or weak slowly, while falter often describes a sudden stutter in progress.
Opposites
Word family
- faltering adjective
- unsteady or weak
- falteringly adverb
- in an unsteady, hesitant way
- unfaltering adjective
- steady and not weakening
Commonly confused: falter or fault? falter or fail?
falter vs fault
Fault is a noun for a mistake or defect, but falter is a verb for losing steadiness.
falter vs fail
To fail is to end without success, but to falter is to weaken partway and perhaps recover.
Practice
The singer's voice began to ___ when she saw her old teacher in the audience.
Choose one answer.
Falter means to become unsteady, which suits a shaky voice. Fail would mean the voice stopped entirely, which is too strong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “falter”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.