- 1[intransitive] to become weaker or less effective synonym waver The economy shows no signs of faltering. Her courage never faltered. The economy is beginning to falter. The team’s performance faltered badly after the break.
- 2[intransitive, transitive] (+ speech) to speak in a way that shows that you are not confident His voice faltered as he began his speech.
- 3[intransitive] to walk or behave in a way that shows that you are not confident She walked up to the platform without faltering. He never faltered in his commitment to the party. Word Origin late Middle English (in the senses ‘stammer’ and ‘stagger’): perhaps from the verb fold (which was occasionally used of the faltering of the legs or tongue) + -ter as in totter.
BrE BrE//ˈfɔːltə(r)//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfɔːltər//Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they falter
BrE BrE//ˈfɔːltə(r)//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfɔːltər//he / she / it falters
BrE BrE//ˈfɔːltəz//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfɔːltərz//past simple faltered
BrE BrE//ˈfɔːltəd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfɔːltərd//past participle faltered
BrE BrE//ˈfɔːltəd//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfɔːltərd//-ing form faltering
BrE BrE//ˈfɔːltərɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//ˈfɔːltərɪŋ//