halting

adjective

halt·​ing ˈhȯl-tiŋ How to pronounce halting (audio)
: marked by a lack of sureness or effectiveness
spoke in a halting manner
haltingly adverb

Examples of halting in a Sentence

She answered in a halting voice. The baby took a few halting steps. Progress in the negotiations has been halting.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Forever doesn’t romanticize the teens’ initial attempts to consummate their relationship, and instead chooses to depict those early encounters in all their halting and awkward glory. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 8 May 2025 But some researchers see climate change as halting—or even reversing—this improvement. Lillian Ali, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2025 Although small and halting, these steps showed that governments can reassert democratic control over the forces of globalization, but only by cooperating with others. Jennifer M. Harris, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025 The reformers worried that change was too halting, and that the Ottomans were falling behind the industrializing European nations. Charlie Tyson, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for halting

Word History

First Known Use

1585, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of halting was in 1585

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Cite this Entry

“Halting.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/halting. Accessed 19 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

halting

adjective
halt·​ing ˈhȯl-tiŋ How to pronounce halting (audio)
: being unsure or hesitant
spoke in a halting manner
haltingly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on halting

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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