Time
Did you know?
There’s nothing fishy about flounder... the verb, that is. While the noun referring to a common food fish is of Scandinavian origin, the verb flounder, which dates to the late 16th century, is likely an alteration of an older verb, founder. The two verbs have been confused ever since. Today, founder is most often used as a synonym of fail, or, in contexts involving a waterborne vessel, as a word meaning “to fill with water and sink.” Formerly, it was also frequently applied when a horse stumbled badly and was unable to keep walking. It’s likely this sense of founder led to the original and now-obsolete meaning of flounder: “to stumble.” In modern use, flounder typically means “to struggle” or “to act clumsily”; the word lacks the finality of founder, which usually suggests complete collapse or failure, as that of a sinking ship.
Examples of flounder in a Sentence
Casey Barber, Southern Living, 12 Mar. 2025
Choose from croaker, flounder, perch or whiting on a bun with tartar sauce.
—Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 4 Mar. 2025
Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2025
The 36-year-old Moore will join an organization that has floundered since the retirement of quarterback Drew Brees and departure of Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton.
—Brett Martel, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flounder
Cite this Entry
“Flounder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flounder. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flounder
1 of 2 noun
flounder
2 of 2 verb
Noun
Middle English flounder "a flatfish"; of Scandinavian origin
Verb
probably an altered form of founder
Share