What does falter mean?
Word: Falter
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Falter means to lose strength or confidence and become unsteady or slow down.
Synonyms: hesitate
How do you spell falter?
Syllables: fal - ter
Tricky part: The first syllable sounds like fall, so pupils reach for au and write the word as if it grew out of fault. It did not, and there is no u anywhere in it.
Watch out for: faulter, folter, fallter
Memory tip: A faltering step has no fault in it, so keep the u out.
Falter in a sentence
Example 1: Anu's voice began to falter when she saw the whole school waiting in the hall.
Example 2: The old scooter started to falter on the steep road to Nainital, so we stopped to let it cool.
Example 3: Even when the monsoon came late, the farmers' hopes of a good harvest did not falter.
Fun Fact
Falter has been in English for over 600 years, yet nobody can say for sure where the word came from.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
The sentence contains a jumbled word. Choose the word it hides:
Even after the power cut, the pianist's fingers did not lfaert for a single note.
a) flatter
b) filter
c) falter
d) flutter
Show answer
c) falter. Flatter needs a second t, while filter and flutter need letters the jumble does not have.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Everyone on the pool deck feared that the young swimmer would faltar, yet she kept her pace and touched the wall first.
a) swimmer
b) faltar
c) touched
d) feared
Show answer
b) faltar. The word closes with er, the same as swimmer in this very sentence.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word falter as used in the sentence:
After two quick goals, the visiting team's confidence started to falter near the end of the first half.
a) waver
b) flag
c) weaken
d) strengthen
Show answer
d) strengthen. Confidence that falters is getting less; only strengthen points the other way.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. consience 2. falter 3. noticable 4. rythm
a) to grow shaky and lose your nerve
b) your inner sense of right and wrong
c) a regular, repeated pattern of beats
d) easy to see or become aware of
Show answer
a) to grow shaky and lose your nerve. Falter stands correct here; conscience has lost a c, rhythm an h and noticeable an e.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If a speaker falters halfway through a speech, what is most likely happening?
a) She is repeating her best lines louder
b) She is pausing and sounding unsure
c) She is finishing early and sitting down
d) She is asking the audience to clap along
Show answer
b) She is pausing and sounding unsure
2. A climber never falters on the way up. What does that tell you?
a) She turns back at the first steep bit
b) She stops and doubts at each turn
c) She keeps a firm pace to the top
d) She loses heart once the path narrows
Show answer
c) She keeps a firm pace to the top
