waver
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
wavers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wavered,
past participle, past
-
wavering
present participle
-
to sway to and fro; flutter.
Foliage wavers in the breeze.
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to flicker or quiver, as light.
A distant beam wavered and then disappeared.
-
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
-
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
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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waversimple
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waverssimple
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have waveredperfect
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has waveredperfect
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am waveringprogressive
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are waveringprogressive
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is waveringprogressive
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have been waveringperfect progressive
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has been waveringperfect progressive
Past
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waveredsimple
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had waveredperfect
-
was waveringprogressive
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were waveringprogressive
-
had been waveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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”; see wave, -er 6
Origin of waver2
Explanation
To waver is to move back and forth, like when you waver, one minute thinking you'll stay home, planning to go meet your friends the next, until you finally make your decision. Waver comes from the Old English word wæfre, which means “restless.” When the wind blows, it makes the leaves and flowers waver, or move, in that same direction. A person who wavers is much the same — affected by any influence or change. He or she isn't sure what to do or may be too shy to express a preference until time is just about up and a decision must be made.
Vocabulary lists containing waver
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List 4
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 6
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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.
See Examples For:
“I do waver back and forth between, ‘you’re out, you’re 49.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
“Our confidence doesn’t waver as a team,” Reaves said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
When Paul pressed him again about his lack of apology, lack of contrition, and inability to even say he “misspoke,” while ribbing him about his “low impulse control” and presentation of “machismo,” Mullin didn’t waver.
From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2026
In recent years, numerous coaches have been hired and subsequently sacked for a tactical style they have been unwilling to waver from.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
She hated the frail waver of her voice in the cabin.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
He plans to leave the Public in the best possible shape for the next generation of artists, and never wavers from its core mission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Walmart stock wavers as fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations but full-year guidance is softer than anticipated.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
My car never tires, panics or wavers; it doesn’t jolt at brake lights or grumble at traffic jams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
“Investors continue to show low conviction around equities, which I view as a contrarian positive. If conviction wavers easily, then this is a sign that sentiment is not ebullient, ” Lee says.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2025
Her own voice is mute to her, far away, and the chandelier wavers in the fetid air.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Through years of typical relationship ups and downs, our attraction to each other has hardly wavered.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
The 69-year-old New Orleans native has never wavered in his claims of innocence, insisting since his 1977 arrest that the cops had the wrong guy.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
The next inning, Skubal wavered ever so slightly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Realizing it was in a must-turn-right lane, the Waymo flicked on its left blinker, wavered toward the middle lane, changed its mind, and turned right—away from the hotel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The needle zoomed up and wavered between fourteen and fifteen pounds.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
And in this strict social classification - known as songbun – the jjaepo belong to the "wavering class", somewhere between the core and hostile classes.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
But U.S. exports have been wavering substantially week-to-week, and the largest share of U.S. jet fuel goes to Canada and Mexico, so there’s only so much available supply to divert to Europe.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
The pioneering crypto’s sharp reversal signals a now increasing appetite for risk, with traditional safe-haven assets wavering.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 4, 2026
Dane stared straight into the camera in the last few minutes of the Netflix special, his voice wavering when tears welled up in his eyes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
Some of the band stopped when they felt the land grow rough underfoot, but others pressed right on, seeking the phantom village, following dim wavering shapes that fled just out of reach before them.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
