| English Dictionary |
VACILLATE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does vacillate mean?
• VACILLATE (verb)
The verb VACILLATE has 2 senses:
1. be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
2. move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern
Familiarity information: VACILLATE used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it vacillates Past simple: vacillated
Past participle: vacillated
-ing form: vacillating
Sense 1
Meaning:
Be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Synonyms:
hover; oscillate; vacillate; vibrate
Context example:
He oscillates between accepting the new position and retirement
Hypernyms (to "vacillate" is one way to...):
hesitate; waffle; waver (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "vacillate"):
shillyshally (be uncertain and vague)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
vacillant (uncertain in purpose or action)
vacillation (indecision in speech or action)
vacillator (one who hesitates (usually out of fear))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Synonyms:
Context example:
the line on the monitor vacillated
Hypernyms (to "vacillate" is one way to...):
swing (alternate dramatically between high and low values)
Verb group:
fluctuate (cause to fluctuate or move in a wavelike pattern)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
vacillation (changing location by moving back and forth)
Context examples
The poor woman was very vacillating in her repentance.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Keep in mind that Mercury is a wild child at the start and end of the retrograde—more so than in the middle of his phase—so that’s reason enough to keep your distance from this vacillating planet.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
Very well; I hope you feel the content you express: at any rate, your good sense will tell you that it is too soon yet to yield to the vacillating fears of Lot's wife.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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"There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnake's tail." (Native American proverb, Navajo)
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"Know what you say, but don't say all that you know." (Dutch proverb)