vacillate
verb (used without object)
to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute.
vacillated
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past participleof vacillate.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof vacillate.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
vacillateverb (used without object)to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute.
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.
Instead, I vacillated between forgetting all about cancer some days and feeling like death was imminent others, and it was hard to predict what would prompt either extreme.
From Slate ● May 6, 2026
Washington has vacillated between pressing Europe to hit China with tariffs to cutting its own deals with Beijing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
My emotions vacillated from fury to giddiness to crushing depression on an hourly basis.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2023
When Feinstein later vacillated over whether to fire the police chief, any early goodwill she enjoyed as mayor evaporated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2023
She and Bunny had a relationship the likes of which I had seldom seen except in couples married for twenty years or more, a relationship which vacillated between the touching and the annoying.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
