irresolute

American  

[ih-rez-uh-loot] / ɪˈrɛz əˌlut /

adjective

1. not resolute; doubtful; infirm of purpose; vacillating.

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irresolute British  

/ ɪˈrɛzəˌluːt /

adjective

1. lacking resolution; wavering; hesitating

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Other Word Forms

• irresolutely
  adverb
• irresoluteness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of irresolute

First recorded in 1565–75; ir- ² + resolute

Explanation

Irresolute describes someone who feels stuck. A decision must be made, a plan acted on, but the irresolute person just doesn't know what to do. Resolute describes certainty. When someone is resolute, things get done: plans are made and carried out. But add the prefix ir to resolute and you get its opposite. An irresolute person isn't necessarily a slacker — he or she just doesn't know what to do. Maybe it's confusion. Maybe it's a matter of waiting for better information to come along. Either way, if someone is irresolute, you'll need to be patient — or willing to nudge him or her into action.

Example Sentences

Irresolute as he was, the Prince was determined never to leave his wealth to a son of Louis Philippe.

From Time Magazine Archive

Restless, Irresolute, or sad, I shun each eye, Yet fly from solitude to fly from self.

From Joan of Arc A Play in Five Acts by Sargant, Jane Alice

Slushy is the highway between the unspeakable hedges; I pause Irresolute under a telegraph-pole, The fourteenth telegraph-pole on the way From Shere to Havering, The twenty-first From Havering to Shere.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-02-25 by Various

Irresolute, miserable, she paused on her way to the sofa where Napier sat, trying to read.

From The Messenger by Robins, Elizabeth

Irresolute and trembling, she stood staring at the crosses, marking their shadows as they lengthened, till, with a gasp and sob, she heard the tread of horses, accompanied by shouts and laughter.

From The Curse of Koshiu A Chronicle of Old Japan by Wingfield, Lewis