floundered

VERB

struggle; be in the dark

Synonyms

STRONGEST

flop stumble wallow

STRONG

blunder bobble flummox fumble grope labor lurch muddle plunge pratfall snafu strive thrash toil toss travail tumble

WEAK

cast about come apart at the seams drop the ball fall down foul up go at backwards go to pieces make a mess of miss one's cue screw up slip up stub one's toe trip up work at

Antonyms

STRONG

idle laze

WEAK

do well succeed

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Bucks floundered without him and the coach paid the price.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Countries that industrialized, prospered; those that failed to industrialize, floundered.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

Borthwick, whose side have floundered in defeats by Scotland and Ireland in the past two rounds of the Six Nations, said the pressure that comes with being an England coach is a constant.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

Shares of Intuit have floundered this year along with the broader industry as Wall Street worries that AI can replace critical software functions.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

Even so, I floundered, staggered; but somehow I always groped my way back to that path where I felt a tinge of warmth from an unseen light.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright