flounder

¹

[ floun-der ]

verb (used without object)

1. to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements (usually followed by about, along, on, through, etc.):

   He saw the child floundering about in the water.

2. to struggle clumsily or helplessly:

   He floundered helplessly on the first day of his new job.

   Synonyms: muddle, waver, falter

3. to be in imminent danger of failure:

   The negotiations floundered primarily on the question of extending regional autonomy.

flounder

²

[ floun-der ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) floun·der, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) floun·ders.

1. a European, marine flatfish, Platichthys flesus, used for food.
2. any of numerous similar or closely related non-European flatfishes.
3. any flatfish other than soles.

flounder

¹

/ ˈflaʊndə /

verb

1. to struggle; to move with difficulty, as in mud
2. to behave awkwardly; make mistakes

noun

1. the act of floundering

flounder

²

/ ˈflaʊndə /

noun

1. Also calledfluke a European flatfish, Platichthys flesus having a greyish-brown body covered with prickly scales: family Pleuronectidae : an important food fish
2. any flatfish of the families Bothidae (turbot, etc) and Pleuronectidae (plaice, halibut, sand dab, etc)

Usage

Flounder is sometimes wrongly used where founder is meant: the project foundered (not floundered ) because of a lack of funds

Word History and Origins

Origin of flounder¹

First recorded in 1570–80; perhaps blend of flounce ¹ and founder ²

Origin of flounder²

1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French floundre < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian flundra

Word History and Origins

Origin of flounder¹

C16: probably a blend of founder ² + blunder ; perhaps influenced by flounder ²

Origin of flounder²

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse flythra , Norwegian flundra

Example Sentences

It’s important that we can speak to why we are not serving flounder and have speckled sea trout instead.

From Salon

The Democrats continue to flounder, the Republicans continue to weaponize their own harmful rhetoric against their political opponents, and the polling remains largely unchanged.

From Slate

Humane spent five years building a device to disrupt the smartphone — only to flounder.

From New York Times

To test the accuracy of their new modelling approach, the researchers collated an unprecedented amount of data on fisheries-dependent and independent data within eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, focussing on 11 rare and data-poor diadromous fish including the European eel, European flounder, smelt and three species of shad and the thinlip mullet.

From Science Daily

Watching Biden flounder over Trump in the polls does nothing to increase the public confidence in our national leadership – although Biden’s handling of COVID, infrastructure and student debt should.

From Salon

Related Words

• flop
• stumble
• wallow