HESITATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does hesitation mean? 

• HESITATION (noun)
  The noun HESITATION has 3 senses:

1. indecision in speech or action

2. a certain degree of unwillingness

3. the act of pausing uncertainly

  Familiarity information: HESITATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HESITATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indecision in speech or action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

hesitation; vacillation; wavering

Hypernyms ("hesitation" is a kind of...):

indecision; indecisiveness; irresolution (doubt concerning two or more possible alternatives or courses of action)

Derivation:

hesitate (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A certain degree of unwillingness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

disinclination; hesitancy; hesitation; indisposition; reluctance

Context example:

after some hesitation he agreed

Hypernyms ("hesitation" is a kind of...):

involuntariness; unwillingness (the trait of being unwilling)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hesitation"):

sloth; slothfulness (a disinclination to work or exert yourself)

Derivation:

hesitate (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of pausing uncertainly

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

falter; faltering; hesitation; waver

Context example:

there was a hesitation in his speech

Hypernyms ("hesitation" is a kind of...):

pause (temporary inactivity)

Derivation:

hesitate (interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing)

 Context examples 

“Would eighteenpence be?” I hinted, after some hesitation.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Mr. and Mrs. March, Aunt and Uncle Carrol began it, others rapidly joined in, even Sallie Moffat, after a moment's hesitation, threw her train over her arm and whisked Ned into the ring.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Our learned men looked at each other with some hesitation.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have scarcely any hesitation in saying she will include you and my sister Maria in every invitation with which she honours us during your stay here.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy said, with hesitation, "You are very kind, but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything."

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The four shots came in rather a scattering volley, but they did the business: one of the enemy actually fell, and the rest, without hesitation, turned and plunged into the trees.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The woman in the shop answered me without hesitation that it was to be at eight o’clock in the morning.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His usually impassive features were in a state of painful agitation, and he spoke slowly and with hesitation, as though his trembling lips could hardly frame the words.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you are not sure you want to take that step, then voice your hesitation openly.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This was the sum of my speech, delivered with great improprieties and hesitation.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)