vacillate
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin vacillātum, supine form of vacillō (“sway, waver”).
- Compare oscillate
Pronunciation
Verb
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- (intransitive) To sway unsteadily from one side to the other; oscillate.
- 1910: Jack London, The Heathen
- Its [the barometer's] normal register in the Paumotus [the Tuamotus] was 29.90, and it was quite customary to see it vacillate between 29.85 and 30.00, or even 30.05; [...]
- 1910: Jack London, The Heathen
- (intransitive) To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.
- 2004: Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage
- On the streets of Berlin, Ruth and her compatriots vacillated "between hope and despair."
- 2004: Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage
Synonyms
- (to sway from one side to the other): stagger
- (to swing indecisively): blow hot and cold, waffle
Related terms
Translations
to sway unsteadily from one side to the other
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to swing from one course of action or opinion to another
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to be changeable, or inconsistent in speech or action
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Further reading
- “vacillate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “vacillate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “vacillate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Italian
Verb
vacillate
- second-person plural present indicative of vacillare
- second-person plural imperative of vacillare
- feminine plural of vacillato
Anagrams
Latin
Verb
(deprecated template usage) vacillāte