vacillating

[ vas-uh-ley-ting ]

/ ˈvæs əˌleɪ tɪŋ /

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See synonyms for vacillating on Thesaurus.com

adjective

not resolute; wavering; indecisive; hesitating: an ineffectual, vacillating person.

oscillating; swaying; fluctuating: a vacillating indicator.

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Also vacillant.

Origin of vacillating

First recorded in 1805–15; vacillate + -ing²

synonym study for vacillating

1. See fickle.

OTHER WORDS FROM vacillating

vac·il·lat·ing·ly, adverbnon·vac·il·lat·ing, adjectiveun·vac·il·lat·ing, adjective

Words nearby vacillating

vaccinology, Vachel, Vacherin, vacillant, vacillate, vacillating, vacillation, vacillator, vacillatory, VACTERL syndrome, vacua

How to use vacillating in a sentence

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 Love|Abby Haglage|November 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Vacillating and unintelligent, his actions were all guided by his mistress, Mme Bonnemain.
Top Ten Military Sex Scandals, Part Two|David Frum|November 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Yet the feeling is in most children weak and vacillating, and is wont to be mixed with other and less noble ones.
Children's Ways|James Sully
To go back on it, and at the eleventh hour, would proclaim him weak and vacillating, and the effect might be as Strachan said.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn

They could get no satisfactory answer from Aranjuez, where the vacillating, terrified, and disunited court now was.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane
It is small wonder that the measures of such a congress, when not vacillating, were weak.
Four Years in Rebel Capitals|T. C. DeLeon
For a moment Mrs. Horncastle was speechless and vacillating.
The Three Partners|Bret Harte

British Dictionary definitions for vacillating

vacillating

rarely vacillant (ˈvæsɪlənt)

/ (ˈvæsɪˌleɪtɪŋ) /

adjective

inclined to waver; indecisive

Derived forms of vacillating

vacillatingly, adverb

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

vacillating

Origin of vacillating

synonym study for vacillating

OTHER WORDS FROM vacillating

Words nearby vacillating

Words related to vacillating

How to use vacillating in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for vacillating

rarely vacillant (ˈvæsɪlənt)

Derived forms of vacillating