vacillation
Americannoun
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an act or instance of vacillating.
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a state of indecision or irresolution.
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unsteady movement; fluctuation.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of vacillation
1350–1400; Middle English vacillacion < Latin vacillātiōn- (stem of vacillātiō ) a swaying. See vacillate, -ion
Explanation
Vacillation is when you constantly change your opinion. It also refers to swinging back and forth physically. Both meanings of vacillation involve moving back and forth in some way. The first sense is what happens when a person is wishy-washy. If you want to go to a movie, then say you don’t, then say you do after all, that’s an example of vacillation. Politicians who flip-flop are known for their vacillation because they constantly change their opinions. Also, something that is swinging or swaying in the wind is vacillating, so the movement is a vacillation.
Vocabulary lists containing vacillation
"The Palace Thief" by Ethan Canin
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Spoon River Anthology
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David Copperfield
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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.
So the decision to do nothing about the deflation was not a case of ignorance or vacillation, as Mr. Ahamed contends, but of alignment with long-established monetary norms.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
It just captures this vacillation of the human experience so perfectly for me — like, I’m dancing, I’m driving in the dark.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2024
Economists now blame that vacillation for how ingrained inflation became, and how much pain the central bank had to inflict in the 1980s to finally wrestle price increases under control.
From New York Times • Aug. 26, 2022
Oh's controlled vacillation between effervescent wit and warmth and frantic frustration in each episode make Ji-Yoon a solid navigator through this morass.
From Salon • Aug. 20, 2021
He was perfectly convinced that when once he had made up his mind to an enterprise, vacillation must be fatal.
From Froth by Palacio Vald?s, Armando
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.
