Characterized by or expressing hesitation; showing doubt, reluctance, or uncertainty through one's manner or speech.
Formed from 'hesitate' by adding the Latin suffix -ive, which creates adjectives meaning 'having the quality of' or 'tending to.' This suffix has been used in English since Old English borrowed it from Latin through French.
The suffix -ive in 'hesitative' is doing the same work as -ant in 'hesitant,' so why do we have both? 'Hesitant' feels more common because it sounds less formal, while 'hesitative' survives mostly in specialized medical and psychological contexts where professionals want to sound technical. Language naturally develops formal and informal versions of the same idea.
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