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waver

1
[ wey-ver ]
/ ˈweɪ vər /
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See synonyms for: waver / wavered / wavering on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object)
noun
an act of wavering, fluttering, or vacillating.
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Origin of waver

1
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”; see wave, -er6

synonym study for waver

5. 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 WORDS FROM waver

wa·ver·er, nounun·wa·vered, adjective

Other definitions for waver (2 of 2)

waver2
[ wey-ver ]
/ ˈweɪ vər /
noun
a person who waves or causes something to wave: Election time brings out the wavers of flags and haranguers of mobs.
a person who specializes in waving hair.
something, as a curling iron, used for waving hair.

Origin of waver

2
First recorded in 1550–60; wave + -er1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to waver

dither, falter, fluctuate, hedge, hesitate, oscillate, pause, quiver, seesaw, shake, sway, teeter, tremble, vacillate, vary, waffle, wobble, change, deliberate, dilly-dally

British Dictionary definitions for waver

waver
/ (ˈweɪvə) /
verb (intr)
to be irresolute; hesitate between two possibilities
to become unsteady
to fluctuate or vary
to move back and forth or one way and another
(of light) to flicker or flash
noun
the act or an instance of wavering

Derived forms of waver

waverer, nounwavering, adjectivewaveringly, adverb

Word Origin for waver

C14: from Old Norse vafra to flicker; related to German wabern to move about
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
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