Definition

1. Verb:
   • To hesitate: To pause or delay before acting, speaking, or deciding, often due to uncertainty, doubt, or reluctance.
   • To waver: To be indecisive or to show a lack of firmness in making a choice or taking action.
   • To dilly-dally: (Informal) To waste time through hesitation or slow, indecisive actions.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ấy chần chừ trước câu hỏi khó. (He hesitated before the difficult question.)
  • Đừng chần chừ, hãy đưa ra quyết định đi! (Don't waver, make a decision!)
  • Cô ấy cứ chần chừ mãi không rời khỏi nhà. (She kept dilly-dallying and wouldn't leave the house.)

Advanced Usage

• "thái độ chần chừ": a hesitant/wavering attitude.
  • Thái độ chần chừ của anh ấy khiến mọi người lo lắng. (His hesitant attitude made everyone anxious.)

Variants and Related Words

• Do dự (v): To hesitate, to be in two minds. Often used interchangeably with "chần chừ," but can imply a slightly more internal debate.
• Đắn đo (v): To ponder carefully, to weigh options. Suggests more thoughtful consideration than simple hesitation.

Synonyms

• Hesitate: To pause due to uncertainty.
• Falter: To lose strength or momentum in decision or action.
• Procrastinate: To delay action, especially out of habitual laziness or avoidance (stronger implication of postponement than "chần chừ").

Related Idioms

• Chần chừ như gà mắc tóc: To hesitate excessively, to be tangled in indecision (literally: "to hesitate like a chicken with hair stuck in its beak").
  • Cứ chần chừ như gà mắc tóc thì sẽ bỏ lỡ cơ hội. (If you keep hesitating excessively, you will miss the opportunity.)

verb

1. To waver, to hum and haw, to dilly-dally
   • đi ngay không một phút chần chừ
     he set off without humming and hawing one minute
   • thái độ chần chừ
     a dilly-dallying attitude