まごまご

What it means

What does まごまご mean? It means to act in a hesitant, indecisive, or fidgety way, often implying waiting for a decision or being unable to commit to an action. In everyday Japanese, it describes the act of dithering or dawdling, especially when someone should choose or move forward and instead stalls.

Main meanings

• to act in a hesitant, fidgety way; to be indecisive and slow to decide
• to stall or dawdle while planning or choosing, rather than taking action
• to fuss over minor details, delaying what is to be done

How to use it

Used mainly in casual speech and writing to describe someone's hesitation or dithering; it forms a compound with suru to describe the action まごまごする or まごまごしている; generally avoided in formal writing.