halting

[ hawl-ting ]

adjective

1. faltering or hesitating, especially in speech.
2. faulty or imperfect.
3. limping or lame:

   a halting gait.

halting

/ ˈhɔːltɪŋ /

adjective

1. hesitant

   halting speech

2. lame

Derived Forms

• ˈhaltingness, noun
• ˈhaltingly, adverb

Other Words From

• halting·ly adverb
• halting·ness noun
• un·halting adjective
• un·halting·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of halting¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; halt ², -ing ²

Example Sentences

The AMOC has captured the popular imagination because of its depiction in the lurid sci-fi film “The Day After Tomorrow,” in which various disastrous events occur after a sudden halting of the current.

From Washington Post

The regime, meanwhile, has its own incentives for halting the violence in the city.

From The Daily Beast

What potential damage has the halting of research on psychedelics caused?

From The Daily Beast

And then Sotloff is presented to the camera and Obama is challenged to save him by halting the bombing.

From The Daily Beast

In the longer term, she sees big strides in preventing tartar build-up and halting receding gums.

From The Daily Beast

After four years of a halting recovery, Bernanke said, things are looking up.

From The Daily Beast

Halting his squad, Lawrence dismounted, and taking Harry, they carefully made their way to the brow of a hill which lay in front.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Middleton, with shaking limbs and halting footsteps, assisted his wife to her room.

From Project Gutenberg

Beneath this melodrama, the circumstances are recounted at great length, and some halting verses conclude the mournful narration.

From Project Gutenberg

Varney was on his way to the house before the footman had finished his halting explanation.

From Project Gutenberg

Some leap to the strains with unapt foot, and make a halting figure in the universal dance.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• awkward
• clumsy
• labored
• stumbling
• tentative