flounders

verb

present tense third-person singular of flounder
1
as in stumbles
to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually unprepared choristers who floundered helplessly through the musical number

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in shuffles
to move heavily or clumsily the car floundered through the heavy wet snow, constantly getting stuck

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of flounders Henry, the principal owner, has made Kennedy the team spokesman and Kennedy said he’s not focused on his own job security as the organization flounders into obscurity. — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 11 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flounders
  1. stumbles
  2. shuffles
  3. struggles
  4. stomps
Verb
  • Even as Heath stumbles his way through the lyrics, the audience respectfully claps along to the beat.
    — Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Lizard Music follows a boy (Theo Clark Leber) left to his own devices who stumbles upon a secret late-night broadcast of lizards playing otherworldly music, and a hidden door to the extraordinary swings open.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of stumbles
Verb
  • My brother looks at the floor, mumbles something, and then shuffles away from the table.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The line shuffles forward quickly, and my heart knots in my chest as Heartfillers are dosed to each person up ahead.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of shuffles
Verb
  • Sometimes, though, a team simply struggles to find its footing.
    — David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • This mostly lifeless car struggles every few seconds to get its engine going.
    — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of struggles
Verb
  • His creator, an unnamed basket-weaver (Peter Dinklage), braided him as a mate for a lonely virgin, a fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) who stomps around her rustic village smelling like sushi and tossing her head back in an Eliza Doolittle guffaw.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • At one point Evans stomps in to a Fielder secondary interview to try to stop it.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of stomps

Browse Nearby Words

floundering
flounders
flourish
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Cite this Entry

“Flounders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flounders. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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