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Flounder is a relatively common verb that current evidence dates to the late 16th century, when it was likely born by means of an alteration of an older verb, founder. The two have been confused ever since. Today, founder is most often used as a synonym of fail, or, in the case of 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 denotes complete collapse or failure, as that of a sunken ship.
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Examples of flounder in a Sentence
Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 1 Feb. 2025
As the days pass, the layered stacks of cod, haddock, red snapper, flounder and more grow higher.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 19 Jan. 2025
Mike Sando, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025
But like so many of us who have been corralled by our bosses in the wake of remote work pushback and flimsy DEI pledges, their 9-to-5 iron grip is floundering.
—Abby Monteil, Them, 15 Jan. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near flounder
Cite this Entry
“Flounder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flounder. Accessed 10 Feb. 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
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