mammer means to hesitate. It carries an Arena rating of 1675, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, mammer ranks #1,769 of 13,275 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,982 of 13,275 for The Improbable, #2,235 of 13,275 for Funniest Words, #2,464 of 13,275 for Most Malleable Words.
mammer is pronounced /ˈmæm.ə(ɹ)/.
Why “mammer” is a great word
To hesitate with such indecisive uncertainty that the mind’s confusion manifests as a physical faltering of speech. From Middle English *mameren* (to hesitate, be undecided, waver, mutter), from Old English *māmrian*, *māmorian* (to think through, deliberate, plan out, design), from Proto-Germanic *maimrōną* (to take care, worry), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *smer-* (to fall into thought, remember, take care), first attested in English before 1425. Unlike “hesitate,” a general pause before action, or “stammer,” a nervous repetition of sounds, to mammer is to have doubt so thoroughly arrest the will that it spills into the mouth as a wavering, inarticulate murmur. It is the sound of a man rehearsing a dozen refusals on his doorstep, the vacant hem and haw of a clerk confronted with an unforeseen request, the soft, self-consuming mutter in the dark before a fateful choice—the audible shape of a mind divided against itself.
Etymology
From Middle English mameren (“to hesitate, be undecided, waver, mutter”), from Old English māmrian, māmorian (“to think through, deliberate, plan out, design”), from Proto-Germanic *maimrōną (“to take care, worry”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *smer- (“to fall into thought, remember, take care”). Related to Old English māmor (“deep thought, deep sleep, unconsciousness”), Old English mimorian (“to remember”), Dutch mijmeren (“to ponder, muse”). More at remember.
verb
- To hesitate.“Tell me, Othello: I wonder in my soul, What you would ask me, that I should deny, Or stand so mammering on — Shakespeare, Othello.”
- To mumble or stammer from doubt or hesitation.
Words closest in meaning
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