Other forms: hesitated, hesitates, hesitating
To hesitate is to pause before acting because you are not quite sure. Hesitate to ask, hesitated a moment, do not hesitate.
Do not hesitate to contact us is the standard closing formula in official letters. He who hesitates is lost is the proverb, and it is bad advice more often than not. Note that the Latin means to stick fast, from haerere — hesitating is being stuck.
1verbhesitateTo pause before acting because you are not quite sure.
“She hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door.”
hesitate is a pausing.
Latin haesitare is an intensive of haerere, to stick fast. Adhere and hesitant come from the same sticking.
Latin
haesitātus
English, today
hesitate
Built from
Borrowed from Latin haesitātus. Latin haesitātus, perfect passive participle of haesitō (see -ate), intensive of haereō (“to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast”). Displaced native wandian. Compare French hésiter.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA