oscillate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
oscillates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
oscillated,
past participle, past
-
oscillating
present participle
-
to swing or move to and fro, as a pendulum does.
-
to vary or vacillate between differing beliefs, opinions, conditions, etc..
He oscillates regularly between elation and despair.
-
Physics. to have, produce, or generate oscillations.
-
Mathematics. (of a function, sequence, etc.) to tend to no limit, including infinity.
The sequence 0, 1, 0, 1, … oscillates.
verb (used with object)
-
oscillates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
oscillated,
past participle, past
-
oscillating
present participle
verb
-
(intr) to move or swing from side to side regularly
-
(intr) to waver between opinions, courses of action, etc
-
physics to undergo or produce or cause to undergo or produce oscillation
Synonym Usage
See swing 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
oscillatesimple
-
oscillatessimple
-
have oscillatedperfect
-
has oscillatedperfect
-
am oscillatingprogressive
-
are oscillatingprogressive
-
is oscillatingprogressive
-
have been oscillatingperfect progressive
-
has been oscillatingperfect progressive
Past
-
oscillatedsimple
-
had oscillatedperfect
-
was oscillatingprogressive
-
were oscillatingprogressive
-
had been oscillatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of oscillate
1720–30; < Latin oscillātus (past participle of oscillāre “to swing, ride on a swing”), equivalent to oscill(um) “a swing” + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
On a hot day, you’ll be happy to have a fan that can oscillate, meaning it moves back and forth in a steady motion. The verb oscillate can be traced back to the Latin word oscillum, meaning "swing," so it makes sense that oscillate is used to describe an object like a fan or a pendulum that swings from side to side. The word also can be used to describe a different kind of motion — the wavering of someone who is going back and forth between conflicting beliefs or actions. If you’ve ever had trouble making up your mind about something, you probably know what it feels like to oscillate — back and forth from one decision and to another and then back again. And again. And again.
Vocabulary lists containing oscillate
Unit 1: Telling Details
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The waves could have gotten the vessel to oscillate back and forth, Sharpe said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Thus, governments oscillate between ignoring developments that are moving too fast to process and aggressively intervening when scary risks appear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
If neutrinos and antineutrinos oscillate differently, that difference could point to why matter ultimately prevailed.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026
“It’s been kind of a sideways-driven market that is continuing to oscillate between good economic data and bad jobs data.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 5, 2026
Would it oscillate back and forth until it came to rest?
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
RSI, which oscillates between 10 and 100, tends to rise when prices rise.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 6, 2026
As the next round of talks approaches, the public oscillates between faint hopes for diplomacy and an acute awareness that events far beyond their control may reshape their future overnight.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
The narrative oscillates between a journalistic view of the band’s history and something of an insider’s account.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
In a cavity’s lowest mode, the radio waves’ electric field oscillates uniformly up and down along the cavity axis.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 20, 2024
Good writing can flip the way the world is perceived, like the silhouette in psychology textbooks which oscillates between a goblet and two faces.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Its overall light field oscillated in the same direction, even though it contained photons of different colors traveling along many different paths.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
Culturally, hyper-machismo has oscillated from cool to lame to ironically cool and back again for decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
Even though the stock-bond correlation has oscillated widely over the years, this ratio has remained remarkably constant — as you can see from the chart above.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026
The Korean won has oscillated between a sharp appreciation in the first half of last year and then a deep depreciation in the second.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 28, 2026
The only sound was the fan, clicking each time it oscillated across the room.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
The debate about AI and jobs has become exhausting and largely unproductive, oscillating between “AI will take all jobs” and “AI will create more jobs than it destroys.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
"Financial markets are oscillating in a narrow, uneasy range as traders sized up the countdown to Donald Trump's Iran deadline," wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026
This allows the beads to begin oscillating on their own while floating in mid-air, producing a steady rhythm that reflects the unusual forces at play.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2026
Like many recent theater school grads, Dela Cruz was still trying to find his niche as a performer, oscillating between the pursuits of ethnic ambiguity — a casting asset — and cultural identity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2026
“Like a clock that is not oscillating properly.”
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
