waver

[ wey-ver ]

/ ˈweɪ vər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR waver ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to sway to and fro; flutter: Foliage wavers in the breeze.

to flicker or quiver, as light: A distant beam wavered and then disappeared.

become unsteady; begin to fail or give way: When she heard the news her courage wavered.

to shake or tremble, as the hands or voice: Her voice wavered.

to feel or show doubt, indecision, etc.; vacillate: He wavered in his determination.

(of things) to fluctuate or vary: Prices wavered.

to totter or reel: The earth quaked and the tower wavered.

noun

an act of wavering, fluttering, or vacillating.

Nearby words

wavelet, wavell, wavellite, wavemeter, waveoff, unwavering, waverley, waves, wavey, wavy, waw

Origin of waver

1275–1325; Middle English (see wave, -er⁶); cognate with dialectal German wabern to move about, Old Norse vafra to toddle

SYNONYMS FOR waver

4 quiver.

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.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR waver ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

wa·ver·er, nounwa·ver·ing·ly, adverbnon·wa·ver·ing, adjectiveun·wa·vered, adjective

un·wa·ver·ing, adjectiveun·wa·ver·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for unwavering

Tavakoli and the scores of other activists, bloggers, journalists and lawyers jailed in Iran deserve our unwavering support.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015|Movements.Org|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We need a strong voice with moral conviction backed by the unwavering assumption that he means what he says.
Obama’s Tax Rate Hypocrisy|Stuart Stevens|April 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What most impacts the viewer is not simply their consensus judgment but their rational, unwavering conviction in it.
Israel’s Security Experts Cry 'Mayday'|Rachel Bessette|August 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Instead, their pressure often comes to bear on their own government, the American one, to also give Israel unwavering support.
John Kerry Asks American Jews To Support Peace Efforts|Ali Gharib|June 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST

His maid is painfully dishonest after years of unwavering loyalty.
Fear and Loathing in Mexico|Karla Zabludovsky|May 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But during those years she had not formed an instinct of absolute, unwavering, instantaneous honesty.
Mammon and Co.|E. F. Benson
Her voice was just as ringing and clear, and with unwavering, finely-touched modulation.
The Rainbow|D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
Is the example of Galahad and his unwavering pursuit of the highest spiritual object set before him, nothing to us?
Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail|Alfred Nutt
Then again they were running, the unwavering line of thirty men, but with a difference which the outlaws might not mistake.
The Bells of San Juan|Jackson Gregory
A hasty obedience, swift and unwavering, is enforced by several stern sanctions.
Glimpses into the Abyss|Mary Higgs

British Dictionary definitions for unwavering (1 of 2)

unwavering

/ (ʌnˈweɪvərɪŋ) /

adjective

not wavering or hesitant; resolute

British Dictionary definitions for unwavering (2 of 2)

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 Formswaverer, 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

Word Origin and History for unwavering (1 of 2)

unwavering

adj.

1560s, from un- (1) "not" + present participle of waver.

Word Origin and History for unwavering (1 of 2)

waver

late 13c., weyveren, "to show indecision," probably related to Old English wæfre "restless, wavering," from Proto-Germanic *wæbraz (cf. Middle High German wabern "to waver," Old Norse vafra "to hover about"), a frequentative form from the root of wave (v.). Related: Wavered; wavering.

waver

verb (used without object)

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of waver

Examples from the Web for unwavering

British Dictionary definitions for unwavering (1 of 2)

unwavering

adjective

British Dictionary definitions for unwavering (2 of 2)

waver

verb (intr)

noun

Word Origin for waver

Word Origin and History for unwavering (1 of 2)

unwavering

Word Origin and History for unwavering (1 of 2)

waver