The verb flounder means to struggle, to make clumsy efforts to move or regain one's balance. The verb founder means to sink or become disabled.
Examples:
- “Many people flounder about in life because they do not have a purpose, an objective toward which to work.” (George Halas)
- The Turkish man-of-war Ertogrul foundered at sea and 500 members of her crew were drowned.
Usage Notes:
- "The verbs founder and flounder are often confused. Founder comes from a Latin word meaning 'bottom' (as in foundation) and originally referred to knocking enemies down; it is now also used to mean 'to fail utterly, collapse.' Flounder means 'to move clumsily, thrash about,' and hence 'to proceed in confusion.' If John is foundering in Chemistry 1, he had better drop the course; if he is floundering, he may yet pull through."
(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000) - "The search-and-replace school of editing assumes every use of the verb flounder is a mistaken attempt to say founder. Flounder might have originated through such confusion, but its meaning is sufficiently different to justify keeping the word around. To founder is to sink; to flounder is to struggle clumsily, like a fish out of water. So if you're sure a company is going under, it's foundering; if there's an outside chance it could right itself, it's floundering."
(Bill Walsh, Lapsing Into a Comma, Contemporary Books, 2000)
Practice:
(a) In the 1990s, where Congress _____, governors led--from welfare reform to health care.
(b) Last month, new owners brought the _____ shopping center back to life.
