fluctuate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
fluctuates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fluctuated,
past participle, past
-
fluctuating
present participle
-
to change continually; shift back and forth; vary irregularly.
The price of gold fluctuated wildly last month.
-
to move back and forth in waves.
- Synonyms:
- oscillate
verb (used with object)
-
fluctuates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fluctuated,
past participle, past
-
fluctuating
present participle
verb
-
to change or cause to change position constantly; be or make unstable; waver or vary
-
(intr) to rise and fall like a wave; undulate
Usage
What does fluctuate mean? Fluctuate means to continually change or shift back and forth. The verb is most commonly used in the context of abstract or intangible things that frequently change, such as temperature, the stock market, or someone’s mood. This kind of continual change is called fluctuation. Example: The volume on my TV keeps fluctuating—it gets louder during commercials and then it gets quiet again when the show comes back on.
Synonym Usage
See waver 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fluctuatesimple
-
fluctuatessimple
-
have fluctuatedperfect
-
has fluctuatedperfect
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am fluctuatingprogressive
-
are fluctuatingprogressive
-
is fluctuatingprogressive
-
have been fluctuatingperfect progressive
-
has been fluctuatingperfect progressive
Past
-
fluctuatedsimple
-
had fluctuatedperfect
-
was fluctuatingprogressive
-
were fluctuatingprogressive
-
had been fluctuatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fluctuate
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin fluctuātus “undulated,” past participle of fluctuāre “to flow,” equivalent to fluctu(s) “a flowing” (derivative of fluere “to flow”) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Something that fluctuates varies or changes — it's the opposite of steady. Like the ups and downs of the stock market or the relationship status of a Hollywood starlet. Fluctuate is a verb that describes movement, sometimes irregular, but often rising and falling in a wave-like pattern. The tides fluctuate according to the weather and season, for example. Your emotions fluctuate depending on what happens throughout the day, and so does your weight. In fact, you usually weigh less in the morning, before you've eaten. You're also taller, since your spine compresses as you walk around. So your height fluctuates, too.
Vocabulary lists containing fluctuate
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Darius the Great Is Not Okay
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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.
See Examples For:
However, the photons in each type of light fluctuate and interact in different ways.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
He wrote that historically, Amazon had stressed that AWS margins would fluctuate.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Since participants for each session are not determined yet, expect secondary ticket demand and prices to fluctuate once the schedule is clearer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
The bank’s income groups fluctuate month to month depending on the mix of depositors and other factors, but they align closely with U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
They kept their heads steady and mouths aimed at the microphone so that the volume of their voices didn’t fluctuate.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
It’s one of the largest concentrations of capybaras in São Paulo, though its exact number of members fluctuates.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
However, the market price of such funds could vary greatly from the net value of their assets, Mishra noted, as trading in those fund shares fluctuates based on investor demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
And when that value fluctuates, so does your confidence about retiring.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 24, 2026
If it fluctuates or you change jobs, this could affect how your earnings rise.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026
In addition, receptivity to innovation fluctuates in time within the same region.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
But numbers provided by officials have fluctuated wildly.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Energy prices have fluctuated since the conflict started on 28 February as traders reacted to disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
For most of the past decade that gap fluctuated between $10 and $15 a barrel.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Until the early 2000s, they fluctuated between 1% and 3%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The geographic boundaries of the political/social spheres that could usefully be grouped as “Europe” or “China” fluctuated over the centuries.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Taipei, Singapore, Jakarta and and Wellington were also up, with Manila fluctuating.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
What the polls generally failed to foresee—and arguably shouldn’t have been expected to, given the fluctuating field—was that just enough voters would ultimately coalesce behind Crowley to put him over the top.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
These adaptations evolved to optimize energy storage and usage in environments with fluctuating food availability.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
The threat from the Houthis risks further disruption to international shipping, with hostilities in the region having already led to global fuel prices fluctuating significantly.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
In these cases, one mixes pseudorandom numbers from several computers, then incorporates the physical indeterminacy of randomly fluctuating voltages from a “white noise” source.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
