flounder¹

[floun-der] /ˈflaʊn dər/

verb (used without object)

to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements (usually followed by about, along, on, through, etc.):

He saw the child floundering about in the water.

to struggle clumsily or helplessly:

He floundered helplessly on the first day of his new job.

Origin

1570-80; perhaps blend of flounce¹ and founder²

Related forms

flounderingly, adverb

unfloundering, adjective

Synonyms

2. falter, waver, muddle.

flounder²

[floun-der] /ˈflaʊn dər/

noun, plural (especially collectively) flounder (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) flounders.

a European, marine flatfish, Platichthys flesus, used for food.

any of numerous similar or closely related non-European flatfishes.

any flatfish other than soles.

Origin

1400-50; late Middle English < Anglo-French floundre < Scandinavian; compare Norwegian flundra

Examples from the web for flounder

It is no wonder they flounder once they reach higher ed.
Big firms with expensive lawyers can usually navigate the system, but small players flounder.
While polar bears flounder in the face of shrinking ice floes, another furry creature has gotten a boost from climate change.
Then there are people who need to be directed and only flounder if they're allowed to do whatever they want.
Recreational anglers face increased restrictions on flounder fishing next year because they greatly exceeded this year's quota.
Even if you master the polka, you have lost precious time and allowed your career to flounder.
The underside of the flounder also eventually loses its color.
Those who rose early to take the flounder trains found big snowflakes falling and a white mantle covering their yards.
Yet despite that fillip, the weak economies may continue to flounder.
Many great communicators flounder because it becomes overbearing to keep up with the world.

British Dictionary definitions for flounder

flounder¹

/ˈflaʊndə/

verb (intransitive)

to struggle; to move with difficulty, as in mud

to behave awkwardly; make mistakes

noun

the act of floundering

Usage note

Flounder is sometimes wrongly used where founder is meant: the project foundered (not floundered) because of a lack of funds

Word Origin

C16: probably a blend of founder² + blunder; perhaps influenced by flounder²

flounder²

/ˈflaʊndə/

noun (pl) -der, -ders

Also called fluke. a European flatfish, Platichthys flesus having a greyish-brown body covered with prickly scales: family Pleuronectidae: an important food fish

(US & Canadian) any flatfish of the families Bothidae (turbot, etc) and Pleuronectidae (plaice, halibut, sand dab, etc)

Word Origin

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse flythra, Norwegian flundra

Word Origin and History for flounder

1590s, perhaps an alteration of founder (q.v.), influenced by Dutch flodderen "to flop about," or native verbs in fl- expressing clumsy motion. Figurative use is from 1680s. Related: Floundered; floundering. As a noun derived from this sense, from 1867.

flatfish, c.1300, from Anglo-French floundre, from Old North French flondre, from Old Norse flydhra; related to Middle Low German vlundere, Danish flynder; ultimately cognate with Greek platys "flat, wide, broad" (see plaice (n.)).