dither
/ˈdɪðɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.11 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To be uncertain or unable to make a decision; to vacillate, hesitate, or delay.
Intransitive verb
verb
To apply an algorithm to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization:
Intransitive verb
verb
To apply an algorithm to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization:
Intransitive verb
noun
The state of being undecided; indecision; vacillation.
Countable; Intransitive verb; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Presently he came running out of the scullery, with the soapy water dripping from him, dithering with cold."
- "2012, The Economist, Sept. 22nd issue, "Indian Reform: At Last" The dithering Mr Singh of recent times may worry that his reform proposals are already too bold. The reforming Mr Singh of yore would see them as just the start."
- "Look at how pixelly this wall texture is. You almost don't even notice the dithering when driving by quick. Up close though, it's real chunky."
- "Everyone was in a dither; either in it or about to get in it or just climbing out of it. Naturally, the Madam was not in a dither. Dither was a foreign concept to her."
Etymology
Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”). Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: dideren, *titrōną
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈdɪðɚ/
- British English: /ˈdɪðə/