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Synonyms

waver

1 American  
[wey-ver] / ˈweɪ vər /

verb (used without object)

  1. to sway to and fro; flutter.

    Foliage wavers in the breeze.

  2. to flicker or quiver, as light.

    A distant beam wavered and then disappeared.

  3. become unsteady; begin to fail or give way.

    When she heard the news her courage wavered.

  4. to shake or tremble, as the hands or voice.

    Her voice wavered.
    Synonyms:
    quiver

  5. to feel or show doubt, indecision, etc.; vacillate.

    He wavered in his determination.

  6. (of things) to fluctuate or vary.

    Prices wavered.

  7. to totter or reel.

    The earth quaked and the tower wavered.

noun

  1. an act of wavering, fluttering, or vacillating.

waver 2 American  
[wey-ver] / ˈweɪ vər /

noun

  1. a person who waves or causes something to wave.

    Election time brings out the wavers of flags and haranguers of mobs.

  2. a person who specializes in waving hair.

  3. something, as a curling iron, used for waving hair.

waver British  
/ ˈweɪvə /

verb

  1. to be irresolute; hesitate between two possibilities

  2. to become unsteady

  3. to fluctuate or vary

  4. to move back and forth or one way and another

  5. (of light) to flicker or flash

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act or an instance of wavering

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

Waver, fluctuate, vacillate refer to an alternation or hesitation between one direction and another. Waver means to hesitate between choices: to waver between two courses of action. Fluctuate suggests irregular change from one side to the other or up and down: The prices of stocks fluctuate when there is bad news followed by good. Vacillate is to make up one's mind and change it again suddenly; to be undecided as to what to do: We must not vacillate but must set a day.

Other Word Forms

  • unwavered adjective
  • waverer noun
  • wavering adjective
  • waveringly adverb

Etymology

Origin of waver1

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English waveren, waferen “to totter, swing”; cognate with Middle High German wabern “to waver,” dialectal German wabern “to move about,” Old Norse vafra “to hover about, roam”; wave, -er 6

Origin of waver2

First recorded in 1550–60; wave + -er 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When Paul pressed him again about his lack of apology, lack of contrition, and inability to even say he “misspoke,” while ribbing him about his “low impulse control” and presentation of “machismo,” Mullin didn’t waver.

From Slate • Mar. 18, 2026

Lee said Choi "did not waver" after a brutal fall that drew audible gasps from the crowd during her first run.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

They added that no amount of threats to her job would cause them to waver in their views.

From BBC • Oct. 2, 2025

For the sake of his health, they were reluctant to waver from it, even when Ohtani had a no-hitter through five his last time out, against the Philadelphia Phillies.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025

For just a moment, I thought I felt her waver.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.