vacilar

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vacillāre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /va.siˈla(ʁ)/ [va.siˈla(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /va.siˈla(ʁ)/ [va.siˈla(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /va.siˈla(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /va.siˈla(ʁ)/ [va.siˈla(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /va.siˈla(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɐ.siˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɐ.siˈlaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /bɐ.siˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /vɐ.siˈla.ɾi/

Verb

vacilar (first-person singular present vacilo, first-person singular preterite vacilei, past participle vacilado) (intransitive)

1. to vacillate (to sway unsteadily from one side to the other)

   Conforme o navio vacilava, ficava mais enjoado. ― As the ship rocked, I felt sicker.

2. to vacillate (to swing between a course of action or opinion and another)

   A menina vacilou entre o bolo e o sorvete. ― The girl vacillated between the cake and the ice cream.

3. to hesitate (to pause before making a decision)

   Ele sempre responde sem vacilar. ― He always answers without hesitating.

4. to falter, to waver (to weaken, to lose vigor)

   Sua determinação vacilava. ― Their determination wavered.

5. (Brazil, colloquial) to make a mistake or wrong choice; to screw up

   Synonym: bobear

   Ontem eu vacilei. Foi mal. ― I screwed up yesterday. Sorry.

6. (Brazil, colloquial) to behave inattentively, obliviously, or uncarefully

   Synonyms: marcar bobeira, dar bobeira, dar sopa, dar bandeira, marcar touca, moscar, panguar, brisar

   Eu vacilei e quando percebi já estava atrasado. ― I wasn’t paying attention, and when I realized it I was already late.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of vacilar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	vacilar
Personal	vacilar	vacilares	vacilar	vacilarmos	vacilardes	vacilarem
Gerund
	vacilando
Past participle
Masculine	vacilado			vacilados
Feminine	vacilada			vaciladas
Indicative
Present	vacilo	vacilas	vacila	vacilamos	vacilais	vacilam
Imperfect	vacilava	vacilavas	vacilava	vacilávamos	vaciláveis	vacilavam
Preterite	vacilei	vacilaste	vacilou	vacilamos1, vacilámos2	vacilastes	vacilaram
Pluperfect	vacilara	vacilaras	vacilara	vaciláramos	vaciláreis	vacilaram
Future	vacilarei	vacilarás	vacilará	vacilaremos	vacilareis	vacilarão
Conditional	vacilaria	vacilarias	vacilaria	vacilaríamos	vacilaríeis	vacilariam
Subjunctive
Present	vacile	vaciles	vacile	vacilemos	vacileis	vacilem
Imperfect	vacilasse	vacilasses	vacilasse	vacilássemos	vacilásseis	vacilassem
Future	vacilar	vacilares	vacilar	vacilarmos	vacilardes	vacilarem
Imperative
Affirmative		vacila	vacile	vacilemos	vacilai	vacilem
Negative (não)		não vaciles	não vacile	não vacilemos	não vacileis	não vacilem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Derived terms

• vacilo

Further reading

• “vacilar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “vacilar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “vacilar”, in Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisboa: Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, 2001–2026
• “vacilar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “vacilar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin vacillāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baθiˈlaɾ/ [ba.θiˈlaɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /basiˈlaɾ/ [ba.siˈlaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: va‧ci‧lar

Verb

vacilar (first-person singular present vacilo, first-person singular preterite vacilé, past participle vacilado)

1. to hesitate, waver, dither (UK), vacillate

   Synonym: hesitar (rare)

2. (colloquial, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala) to enjoy

   Alternative form: bacilar (Latin America)

   Synonyms: disfrutar, gozar

3. (colloquial) to spy on

   Synonyms: espiar, avizorar

4. (colloquial) to banter, kid, tease, rib, trick; to play a joke on, to pull someone's leg

   Synonym: tomar el pelo

Conjugation

    Conjugation of vacilar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			vacilar
gerund			vacilando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		vacilado		vacilada
		plural		vacilados		vaciladas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	vacilo	vacilastú vacilásvos	vacila	vacilamos	vaciláis	vacilan
	imperfect	vacilaba	vacilabas	vacilaba	vacilábamos	vacilabais	vacilaban
	preterite	vacilé	vacilaste	vaciló	vacilamos	vacilasteis	vacilaron
	future	vacilaré	vacilarás	vacilará	vacilaremos	vacilaréis	vacilarán
	conditional	vacilaría	vacilarías	vacilaría	vacilaríamos	vacilaríais	vacilarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	vacile	vacilestú vacilésvos2	vacile	vacilemos	vaciléis	vacilen
	imperfect (ra)	vacilara	vacilaras	vacilara	vaciláramos	vacilarais	vacilaran
	imperfect (se)	vacilase	vacilases	vacilase	vacilásemos	vacilaseis	vacilasen
	future1	vacilare	vacilares	vacilare	vaciláremos	vacilareis	vacilaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		vacilatú vacilávos	vacile	vacilemos	vacilad	vacilen
	negative		no vaciles	no vacile	no vacilemos	no vaciléis	no vacilen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of vacilar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive vacilar	dative	vacilarme	vacilarte	vacilarle, vacilarse	vacilarnos	vacilaros	vacilarles, vacilarse
	accusative	vacilarme	vacilarte	vacilarlo, vacilarla, vacilarse	vacilarnos	vacilaros	vacilarlos, vacilarlas, vacilarse
with gerund vacilando	dative	vacilándome	vacilándote	vacilándole, vacilándose	vacilándonos	vacilándoos	vacilándoles, vacilándose
	accusative	vacilándome	vacilándote	vacilándolo, vacilándola, vacilándose	vacilándonos	vacilándoos	vacilándolos, vacilándolas, vacilándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative vacila	dative	vacílame	vacílate	vacílale	vacílanos	not used	vacílales
	accusative	vacílame	vacílate	vacílalo, vacílala	vacílanos	not used	vacílalos, vacílalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative vacilá	dative	vacilame	vacilate	vacilale	vacilanos	not used	vacilales
	accusative	vacilame	vacilate	vacilalo, vacilala	vacilanos	not used	vacilalos, vacilalas
with formal second-person singular imperative vacile	dative	vacíleme	not used	vacílele, vacílese	vacílenos	not used	vacíleles
	accusative	vacíleme	not used	vacílelo, vacílela, vacílese	vacílenos	not used	vacílelos, vacílelas
with first-person plural imperative vacilemos	dative	not used	vacilémoste	vacilémosle	vacilémonos	vacilémoos	vacilémosles
	accusative	not used	vacilémoste	vacilémoslo, vacilémosla	vacilémonos	vacilémoos	vacilémoslos, vacilémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative vacilad	dative	vaciladme	not used	vaciladle	vaciladnos	vacilaos	vaciladles
	accusative	vaciladme	not used	vaciladlo, vaciladla	vaciladnos	vacilaos	vaciladlos, vaciladlas
with formal second-person plural imperative vacilen	dative	vacílenme	not used	vacílenle	vacílennos	not used	vacílenles, vacílense
	accusative	vacílenme	not used	vacílenlo, vacílenla	vacílennos	not used	vacílenlos, vacílenlas, vacílense

Derived terms

• vacilación
• vacilante
• vacile

Further reading

• “vacilar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• “vacilar”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010