flounder

/ˈflaʊndər/

/ˈflaʊndə/

Other forms: floundering; floundered; flounders

A flounder is a flat fish with both eyes on one side of its head; and, as a verb, to flounder is to wobble around like a fish out of water.

To flounder is to be unsteady or uncertain. It's probably from the Dutch word flodderen, "to flop about," or it's a mix of founder ("to fail") and blunder ("do something clumsy"). If you flounder in the ocean, you need a surfer dude to scoop you up. You don't have to be in water, though; you can flounder any time you're a little wobbly — like after a long hike or during the last hour of the SATs. Either way, when you flounder, you wish you were a flat fish at the bottom of the sea.

Definitions of flounder

1. verb

   move clumsily or struggle to move, as in mud or water
   synonyms: stagger

   type of:

   walk

   use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
2. verb

   behave awkwardly; have difficulties
   “She is floundering in college”

   type of:

   fight, struggle

   make a strenuous or labored effort
3. noun

   any of various European and non-European marine flatfish
   type of:

   flatfish

   any of several families of fishes having flattened bodies that swim along the sea floor on one side of the body with both eyes on the upper side
4. noun

   flesh of any of various American and European flatfish
   types:

   yellowtail flounder

   flesh of American flounder having a yellowish tail

   plaice

   flesh of large European flatfish

   turbot

   flesh of a large European flatfish

   sand dab

   the lean flesh of a small flounder from the Pacific coast of North America

   lemon sole, winter flounder

   flesh of American flounder; important in the winter

   type of:

   flatfish

   sweet lean whitish flesh of any of numerous thin-bodied fish; usually served as thin fillets