Falter — A Vocabulary Story
You. Know. This.
The hall fell silent as Dara walked towards the microphone. Two hundred faces stared back at him — classmates, teachers, parents with cameras raised like they were expecting something extraordinary. His legs felt strange, as though someone had quietly swapped his bones for overcooked spaghetti. He began to falter as he made his way across the stage, one foot hovering uncertainly, before forcing himself to keep moving.
Falter means to lose strength or momentum; to speak in a hesitant or unsteady way; to move unsteadily or stumble. As a noun, it means an unsteadiness or hesitation in movement or speech.
He gripped the microphone stand and stared out at the sea of expectant faces. Mrs Hall had chosen him to represent Year Six in the public speaking competition. He'd said yes before his brain had caught up with his mouth, which, when he thought about it, was exactly the opposite of his current problem.
Just say the first line, he told himself.
Nothing came out.
A small boy in the front row scratched his nose. Someone coughed. A teacher shifted in her chair with a sound like a ship creaking. He felt his resolve falter, the carefully memorised words dissolving like sugar in rain.
Then Dara's eyes found his little sister, Evie, sitting cross-legged in the second row. She wasn't staring at her shoes like everyone else seemed to be. She was watching him steadily, and she mouthed three words, slowly and deliberately: You. Know. This.
Something in his chest untangled.
He took one breath — a real one, deep and slow, not the shallow panicky kind — and began.
"Have you ever been so frightened that your brain and your mouth completely stopped cooperating?"
A ripple of warm laughter moved through the hall.
Dara felt his shoulders drop away from his ears. The words came after that, one after another, steady as footsteps.
He didn't falter again.
Word Definition
falter
meaning
to lose strength or momentum; to speak in a hesitant or unsteady way; to move unsteadily or stumble; an unsteadiness or hesitation in movement or speech
synonyms
hesitate · waver · stumble · stagger · weaken
antonyms
persevere · persist
example sentence
Her voice began to falter as she read the sad letter aloud.