🚗 Uneven sounds 😬 Hesitant talking

sputtery

8.4

Speaking with short, broken pauses because of nervousness

adjective
/ˈspʌtəri/

: titubeante

She got sputtery when asked about her feelings, pausing frequently to find the right words.

Examples

The child spoke in a sputtery manner when telling the story, mumbling and stammering through the details.
During the presentation, his voice became sputtery as he tried to explain his ideas clearly.
Yeah, he got all weird and sputtery and then he said, uh "Yeah, I hear those hemorrhoids are a bitch."

Rule of Three (2008)

Synonyms

choppy

vssputtery

8 5.0

Speech or writing that has short parts and does not flow smoothly

shows hesitation in short interrupted bursts rather than broad uneven flow

halting

vssputtery

7 6.1

Slow and hesitant way of speaking or moving because of doubt

occurs in short interrupted bursts rather than slow steady pauses

wavery

vssputtery

1 7.3

Not firm in what someone says and does

expresses hesitation as short interrupted bursts rather than general uncertain tone

How Hesitant

sputtery

8.4

faltering

1 5.6

hesitant

72 3.2

fluent

6 2.8

Surface Forms

sputtery positive

Morphology

sputtery = sputter (transparent) = sputter + y

Formed by adding the productive adjective-forming suffix '-y' to 'sputter', meaning 'characterized by sputtering'; the relation is straightforward.

Etymology

Sputtery comes from sputter, a word that copies the short, broken sounds you hear, and is related to spit, 'to force out quickly'. So a sputtery explanation or voice is full of short, interrupted bursts and shows hesitation.