vacillate

Etymology

From Latin vacillātum, supine form of vacillō (“sway, waver”).

verb

  1. (intransitive) To sway unsteadily from one side to the other; oscillate.
    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
  2. (intransitive) To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.
    On the streets of Berlin, Ruth and her compatriots vacillated "between hope and despair." 2004, Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/vacillate), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.