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
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.
When Lois is in the coma, there is a lot of vacillation between what she’s dealing with in terms of what's going on with the case and the trauma.
From Salon • Oct. 31, 2024
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
As Dr. Villatte noted, it’s the vacillation without a decision that’s the real anxiety maker.
From New York Times • Feb. 27, 2023
He quit the leadership of the party in July 2019 after months of vacillation but remains a hugely influential figure within the Congress, a fact that Azad said had stalled any significant internal reforms.
From Reuters • Aug. 26, 2022
Must he open to her eyes those hours of cowardly vacillation during which he had walked the Clifton Woods weighing I would against I dare not?
From Chippinge Borough by Weyman, Stanley J.
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.
