Japanese

Verb

躊躇う ‎(transitive, godan conjugation, hiragana ためらう, romaji tamerau, historical hiragana ためらふ)

1. to quell or restrain disordered emotions, such as due to high spirits or sadness: to calm one's feelings
2. to ease or alleviate the symptoms of disease
3. by extension from sense 1, to take the time to think things through calmly before making a decision: to ponder something, to consider something
4. to calmly observe something

躊躇う ‎(intransitive, godan conjugation, hiragana ためらう, romaji tamerau, historical hiragana ためらふ)

1. by extension from transitive sense 3, to hesitate, to be undecided, to waver

Usage notes

The intransitive sense of "to hesitate" appears to be the most common sense in modern Japanese.

Due to the complicated stroke order of the kanji, this word is often spelled in hiragana.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• 躊躇 (ためら)い ‎(tamerai): hesitation

Synonyms

• ぐずぐず ‎(guzuguzu)
• 遅疑 (ちぎ) ‎(chigi)
• 躊躇 (ちゅうちょ) ‎(chūcho)
• 逡巡 (しゅんじゅん) ‎(shunjun)
• 猶予 (ゆうよ) ‎(yūyo)

References

1. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9