What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Totter vs Flounder - What's the difference?

totter | flounder |

As nouns the difference between totter and flounder

is that totter is an unsteady movement or gait while flounder is a european species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, european flounder,.

As verbs the difference between totter and flounder

is that totter is to walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall while flounder is to flop around as a fish out of water.

totter

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • an unsteady movement or gait
  • (archaic) A rag and bone man.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-21, volume=411, issue=8884, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Subtle effects , passage=Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter , slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.}}
  • (archaic) To collect junk or scrap.

    • Synonyms

    * (move unsteadily) teeter, toddle, sway

    Related terms

    * teeter-totter * topple

    flounder

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) floundre, from . Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder, .
  • (North America) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.
  • A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts.
    • (rfi, the bootmaker's tool)
    External links
    * (wikipedia "flounder")

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from the noun. Possibly from (founder) or from (etyl) . See other terms beginning with fl , such as (flutter), (flitter), (float), (flap), (flub), (flip)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To flop around as a fish out of water.
  • To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
    • Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.
  • To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered.
  • * Sir W. Hamilton
    • They have floundered on from blunder to blunder.
    He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well.
  • * 1996 , , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 136
    • He is assessing directions, but he is not lost, not floundering .
    Usage notes
    Frequently confused with the verb founder. The difference is one of severity; floundering'' (struggling to maintain a position) comes before ''foundering (losing it completely by falling, sinking or failing).

    References

    English nouns with irregular plurals