hesitant
adj.slow to speak or act because you feel unsure or nervous. You might feel this way when you are worried about making a mistake.
adj.showing or feeling a lack of certainty or willingness; tentative in manner or action. Often used predicatively after a linking verb.
“She was hesitant to answer the phone.”
“The committee was hesitant to approve the new budget without seeing a more detailed breakdown of the costs.”
“Investors remained hesitant throughout the fiscal quarter, waiting for a clearer signal from the central bank before committing to any large-scale acquisitions.”
Commonly followed by a 'to' + infinitive construction or the preposition 'about'.
The adjective 'hesitant' typically pairs with 'about' or 'to', not 'of'.
Borrowed from Latin haesitans, present participle of haesitare (“to stick fast, to hesitate”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.