| Main Entry: | hesitation |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | waiting; uncertainty |
Synonyms: |
averseness, dawdling, delay, delaying, demurral, doubt, dubiety, equivocation, faltering, fluctuation, fumbling, hemming and hawing, hesitancy, indecision, indecisiveness, indisposition, irresolution, misgiving, mistrust, oscillation, pause, procrastination, qualm, reluctance, scruple, skepticism, stammering, stumbling, stuttering, unwillingness, vacillation, wavering |
| Notes: | hesitancy is a quality or state, while hesitation is an act |
Antonyms: |
certainty, eagerness, go, perseverance, sureness |
| Main Entry: | ambivalence |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | equivocation |
Synonyms: |
confusion dilemma, doubt, fluctuation, gingerliness, haze, hesitancy, hesitation, iffiness, inconclusiveness, indecision, irresoluteness, muddle, quandary, tentativeness, uncertainty, unsureness |
Antonyms: |
certainty, decisiveness |
| Main Entry: | diffidence |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | hesitancy; lack of confidence |
Synonyms: |
backwardness, bashfulness, constraint, doubt, fear, hesitation, humility, insecurity, meekness, modesty, mousiness, reluctance, reserve, self-consciousness, sheepishness, shyness, timidity, timidness, timorousness, unassertiveness |
Antonyms: |
boldness, confidence |
| Main Entry: | doubt |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | lack of faith, conviction; questioning |
Synonyms: |
agnosticism, ambiguity, apprehension, confusion, demurral, difficulty, diffidence, dilemma, disbelief, discredit, disquiet, distrust, dubiety, dubiousness, faithlessness, faltering, fear, hesitancy, hesitation, incertitude, incredulity, indecision, irresolution, lack of confidence, misgiving, mistrust, perplexity, problem, qualm, quandary, rejection, reluctance, scruple, skepticism, suspense, suspicion, uncertainty, vacillation, wavering |
Antonyms: |
belief, certainty, confidence, dependence, faith, reliance, trust |
| Main Entry: | instability |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | imbalance, inconstancy |
Synonyms: |
alternation, anxiety, capriciousness, changeability, changeableness, disequilibrium, disquiet, fickleness, fitfulness, flightiness, fluctuation, fluidity, frailty, hesitation, immaturity, impermanence, inconsistency, inquietude, insecurity, irregularity, irresolution, mutability, oscillation, pliancy, precariousness, restlessness, shakiness, transience, uncertainty, unfixedness, unpredictability, unreliability, unsteadiness, vacillation, variability, volatility, vulnerability, wavering, weakness |
Antonyms: |
balance, constancy, soundness, stability, steadfastness |
| Main Entry: | misgiving |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | uncertainty |
Synonyms: |
anxiety, apprehension, apprehensiveness, distrust, doubt, fear, foreboding, hesitation, mistrust, premonition, prenotion, presage, presentiment, qualm, reservation, scruple, suspicion, unbelief, unease, worry |
Antonyms: |
certainty, confidence, doubtlessness, sureness, trust |
| Main Entry: | objection |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | argument, disagreement |
Synonyms: |
cavil, censure, challenge, counter-argument, criticism, declination, demur, demurral, demurring, difficulty, disapprobation, disapproval, discontent, disesteem, disinclination, dislike, displeasure, dissatisfaction, doubt, exception, grievance, gripe, hesitation, kick, niggle, odium, opposition, protest, protestation, question, rejection, reluctance, remonstrance, remonstration, repugnancy, revilement, scruple, shrinking, squawk, stink*, unwillingness |
Antonyms: |
acceptance, agreement, concurrence, consent |
| Main Entry: | pause |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | wait, delay |
Synonyms: |
abeyance, break, break-off, breathing space, breathing spell, caesura, cessation, coffee break, comma, cutoff, deadlock, discontinuance, downtime, freeze*, gap, gridlock, halt, happy hour, hesitancy, hesitation, hiatus, hitch*, hush, interim, interlude, intermission, interregnum, interruption, interval, lacuna, lapse, layoff, letup, lull, pausation, recess, respite, rest, rest period, stand, standstill, stay, stillness, stopover, stoppage, suspension, time out |
Antonyms: |
continuation, persistence |
| Main Entry: | qualm |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | nagging doubt |
Synonyms: |
agitation, anxiety, apprehension, compunction, conscience, demur, disquiet, foreboding, hesitation, indecision, insecurity, misdoubt, misgiving, mistrust, nervousness, objection, pang, perturbation, presentiment, regret, reluctance, remonstrance, remorse, scruple, suspicion, twinge, uncertainty, unease, uneasiness |
Antonyms: |
approval, comfort, contentedness |
| Main Entry: | scruple |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | misgiving, doubt |
Synonyms: |
anxiety, caution, censor, compunction, conscience, demur, difficulty, faltering, hesitancy, hesitation, pause, perplexity, qualm, reconsideration, reluctance, reluctancy, second thought, squeamishness, superego, twinge, uneasiness |
Antonyms: |
ignorance, negligence, unconcern |