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
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
Oppenheimer modulates the lighting during the scenes from cool to warm and back again, underlining the vacillating feelings they can’t acknowledge outright.
From New York Times
We are a country, and a world, chasing its tail – vacillating between hatred, anger and a desire for peace.
From Salon
Throwing in with the CRM never stopped her from vacillating back and forth between her identities: Jadis and Anne, Alexandria and the authoritarian military.
From Salon
Whereas “The Homecoming” was noted for its claustrophobic machismo, here it’s the women who dominate the proceedings, vacillating between sisterly tenderness and bitter recriminations.
From New York Times
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.
