vacillate
English
WOTD – 10 July 2007
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈvæ.sə.leɪt/, /ˈvæ.sɪ.leɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
vacillate (third-person singular simple present vacillates, present participle vacillating, simple past and past participle vacillated)
- (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
to swing from one course of action or opinion to another
|
to be changeable, or inconsistent in speech or action
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Further reading
- vacillate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- vacillate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- vacillate at OneLook Dictionary Search
Italian
Verb
vacillate
Latin
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.