flounder

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 15, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>flounder</strong> &#149; \FLOUN-der\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1 :</strong> to struggle to move or obtain footing <strong>:</strong> thrash about wildly</p> <p><strong>2 :</strong> to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Tech geeks will read the book with knowing amusement; those of us <em>floundering</em> in the rarefied air will encounter baffling jargon and acronyms scattered like birdseed through the pages." — <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/brave-new-virtual-world-the-startup-wife-by-tahmima-anam-reviewed">Lee Langley, <em>The Spectator</em>, 29 May 2021</a></p> <p>"Several times, just when we think we know how 'Unsettled Ground' will unfold, Fuller pulls the rug out from under us, leaving us, too, <em>floundering</em> to find our footing." — <a href="https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/reviews/2021/05/22/in-her-new-book-unsettled-ground-claire-fuller-explores-how-the-simple-life-comes-with-its-own-complications.html">Marcia Kaye, <em>The Toronto Star</em>, 22 May 2021</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Flounder</em> is a relatively common verb that current evidence dates to the late 16th century, when it was likely born by means of an alteration of an older verb, <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/founder#h2">founder</a></em>. The two have been confused ever since. Today, <em>founder</em> is most often used as a synonym of <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fail">fail</a></em>, or, in the case of a waterborne vessel, as a word meaning "to fill with water and sink." Formerly, it was also frequently applied when a horse stumbled badly and was unable to keep walking. It's likely this sense of <em>founder</em> led to the origina