waver
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
to sway to and fro; flutter.
Foliage wavers in the breeze.
-
to flicker or quiver, as light.
A distant beam wavered and then disappeared.
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become unsteady; begin to fail or give way.
When she heard the news her courage wavered.
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to shake or tremble, as the hands or voice.
Her voice wavered.
- Synonyms:
- quiver
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to feel or show doubt, indecision, etc.; vacillate.
He wavered in his determination.
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(of things) to fluctuate or vary.
Prices wavered.
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to totter or reel.
The earth quaked and the tower wavered.
noun
verb
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to be irresolute; hesitate between two possibilities
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to become unsteady
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to fluctuate or vary
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to move back and forth or one way and another
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(of light) to flicker or flash
noun
Related Words
Waver, fluctuate, vacillate refer to an alternation or hesitation between one direction and another. Waver means to hesitate between choices: to waver between two courses of action. Fluctuate suggests irregular change from one side to the other or up and down: The prices of stocks fluctuate when there is bad news followed by good. Vacillate is to make up one's mind and change it again suddenly; to be undecided as to what to do: We must not vacillate but must set a day.
Other Word Forms
- unwavered adjective
- waverer noun
- wavering adjective
- waveringly adverb
Etymology
Origin of waver1
First recorded in 1550–60; wave + -er 1
Origin of waver1
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English waveren, waferen “to totter, swing”; cognate with Middle High German wabern “to waver,” dialectal German wabern “to move about,” Old Norse vafra “to hover about, roam”; wave, -er 6
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.
She was to offer Mrs. Maroney encouragement to follow her husband’s orders in case she wavered.
From Literature
The Chargers’ mindset hasn’t wavered since Week 1.
From Los Angeles Times
"At no point has that ever wavered, and at no point has that ever wavered when I've come out here on tour. It's been exceptional. It's my way of saying thank you."
From BBC
And while the length of the contract he offered Kempe never wavered, the price did.
From Los Angeles Times
Stocks wavered in early trading while traders assessed what stronger growth could mean for interest rates, before turning solidly higher.
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.
