vacillating
[vas-uh-ley-ting]
- not resolute; wavering; indecisive; hesitating: an ineffectual, vacillating person.
- oscillating; swaying; fluctuating: a vacillating indicator.
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Also vacillant.
Origin of vacillating
Synonyms
See more synonyms for vacillating on Thesaurus.com1. See fickle.
vacillate
[vas-uh-leyt]
- to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute: His tendency to vacillate makes him a poor leader.
- to sway unsteadily; waver; totter; stagger.
- to oscillate or fluctuate.
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Origin of vacillate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for vacillate on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for vacillating
Contemporary Examples
Vacillating between silly and serious, the talk with Ansari is interrupted several times with giggling—most of it his own.
Parks and Recreation’s Aziz Ansari Is 30 Years Old and Writing a Book About Modern LoveAbby Haglage
November 12, 2013
Vacillating and unintelligent, his actions were all guided by his mistress, Mme Bonnemain.
Historical Examples
Yet hitherto our star has been a vacillating and wavering star?
Little DorritCharles Dickens
He was vacillating, but he was not so vacillating as the Ministers.
O that she had your taste to guide her, and to decide my too vacillating judgment!
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
He knows the tragic failure of other movements with vacillating policies.
Mountain MeditationsL. Lind-af-Hageby
The Jew's vacillating hope was tenacious, for it was the last.
Masterpieces of MysteryVarious
vacillating
rarely vacillant (ˈvæsɪlənt)
- inclined to waver; indecisive
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vacillate
- to fluctuate in one's opinions; be indecisive
- to sway from side to side physically; totter or waver
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin vacillāre to sway, of obscure origin
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 vacillating
vacillate
v.
1590s, "to sway unsteadily," from Latin vacillatum, from vacillare (see vacillation). Meaning "to waver between two opinions or courses" is recorded from 1620s. Related: Vacillated; vacillates; vacillating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper