From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhesitanthes‧i‧tant /ˈhezɪtənt/ adjective NOT SUREuncertain about what to do or say because you are nervous or unwilling Gail gave me a hesitant little smile.hesitant about (doing) something They seemed hesitant about coming in.hesitant to do something She is hesitant to draw conclusions until the study is over. —hesitantly adverb
Examples from the Corpus
hesitant• In a changing job market, employees are hesitant.• There are lots of ceramics books, postcards and other visual stimuli around the shop, too, to help the hesitant.• I was hesitant about approaching the boss directly.• Yet, some large publishers are still hesitant about committing any money to a black magazine project.• They seemed anxious and hesitant about leaving, as if uncertain of which direction to take.• He was a little hesitant at first, but soon he had told her everything.• A hesitant hand to her mouth, a rather bemused smile in her eyes, she watched him walk away.• He answered in his usual shy, hesitant manner.• Most were reluctant, defensive, or simply hesitant to blow their own trumpet.• It is not surprising that the government was hesitant to introduce such major reforms.hesitant to do something• The scientists were hesitant to accept the claims of such a nonentity as Richter without corroboration.• However, Richard Baxter was hesitant to accept this offer for other reasons also.• Most were reluctant, defensive, or simply hesitant to blow their own trumpet.• Officials with the AFL-CIO were hesitant to discuss the administration plan because they said they had not seen details of the proposal.• I would have been pleased had Peter been somewhat hesitant to grant me a one-week leave of absence.• Conversely the under-confident person may be hesitant to predict danger or to react to it with sufficient purpose or determination.• In particular, these programs have been hesitant to reimburse the provider of nutrition services by independent practitioners outside standard institutional settings.• In a reactionary decade there are many who will not be hesitant to use such state-ments to confirm their former views. 