Meanings
alternative covert stutter
- uncountablehuman sciencesA manner of speaking in which a person who stutters is careful to avoid words, sounds, and other stimuli which trigger instances of stuttering.
Another mistaken impression is that covert stuttering is just a mild form of stuttering.
2006, Dale F. Williams, Stuttering Recovery: Personal and Empirical Perspectives, →ISBN, page 1513 more examples
Covert stuttering is characterized by accessory features such as word substitutions, interjections, and stopping.
1991, Kerry E. Lewis, “The Structure of Disfluency Behaviors in the Speech of Adult Stutterers,”, in Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, volume 34, page 482[C]overt stuttering, also known as interiorized stuttering . . . may include avoidance of words or sounds, certain situations, certain people, and so on.
2006, David Ward, Stuttering & Cluttering, →ISBN, page 271Though this form of stuttering is a well-recognized clinical phenomenon, research on the topic of covert stuttering is insignificant (Boodstein and Berstein Ratner, 2008).
2011, Jill E. Douglas, An Investigation of the Transition Process from Covert Stuttering to Overt Stuttering: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of Individuals Who Stutter, PhD dissertation, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, p. 16Synonyms: interiorized stuttering
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA manner of speaking in which a person who stutters is careful to avoid words, sounds, and other stimuli which trigger instances of stuttering.
Cite this entry
covert stuttering. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/covert%20stuttering
“covert stuttering.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/covert%20stuttering. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “covert stuttering,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/covert%20stuttering.
Source: covert stuttering on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.