hang back

verb

hung back; hanging back; hangs back

intransitive verb

1

: to drag behind others

2

: to be reluctant

Synonyms

• balance
• dither
• falter
• halt
• hesitate
• scruple
• shilly-shally
• stagger
• teeter
• vacillate
• waver
• wobble
• wabble

Examples of hang back in a Sentence

even though the young mother wanted the job, she still hung back because she wasn't sure if she should spend time away from her family

Recent Examples on the Web

But many of those demonstrators have since hung back, owing to political exhaustion. —E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2024

Hinrichs’ best memory so far was at a stop a couple of years ago when a family brought a disabled child but were hanging back from the train to avoid the tussle of the crowd. —Chris Morris, Fortune, 29 Nov. 2024

Victor hangs back at Oz’s place while Oz and Sofia go down to the docks to have a look at Alberto’s big mystery shipment. —Andy Andersen, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2024

Mezrich’s book agent hung back, while his film agent worked to attach potential stars and took the PDF out to studios and streamers to create a bidding war. —Simon Van Zuylen-Wood, Vulture, 1 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

hang back

verb

1

: to linger behind others

hung back to wait for the slower children

2

: to be unwilling to do something : hesitate

always hangs back when everyone else is dancing