vacillating
Americanadjective
-
not resolute; wavering; indecisive; hesitating.
an ineffectual, vacillating person.
- Synonyms:
- irresolute, hesitant
-
oscillating; swaying; fluctuating.
a vacillating indicator.
adjective
Related Words
See fickle.
Other Word Forms
- nonvacillating adjective
- unvacillating adjective
- vacillatingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of vacillating
First recorded in 1805–15; vacillat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
If someone can't make up their mind, you can call that person vacillating. A vacillating student might not know whether to commit to a major in electrical engineering or in art history. The word vacillating comes from the Latin vacillat- meaning "swayed." When you're having trouble sticking to a decision, you can be described as vacillating — meaning that you are swaying between two choices. The spelling of vacillating can be tricky to remember. But vacillating, like its definition "uncertain," has the letter c in it. And to remember the two ls, think about the word's meaning, wavering between two choices.
Vocabulary lists containing vacillating
Frankenstein
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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The Importance of Being Earnest
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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.
The American people appear to be vacillating between learned helplessness and mass disinhibition.
From Salon • May 1, 2025
Not surprisingly, being the center of such wildly vacillating public opinion took its toll.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 12, 2023
Strait and the 11-piece band spent much of the night vacillating between up-tempo ditties that often turn a bit of sorrow into a winking good time and slower, more heavy-hearted fare.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 18, 2023
As his parents, Michael Goldberg and Juliane Köhler come off as clueless boomers trying their best to be tolerant and vacillating between self-recrimination and despair.
From New York Times • Mar. 27, 2023
Jam could see a whole river of things in his face, currents shifting and swelling, vacillating from grief to fury.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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.
