Vacillate
verb
To have difficulty making a decision; to go back and forth between different options or choices.
Jim kept vacillating between the two job offers, unsure which one to accept.
Often appears as...
- vacillate between
- vacillate over
verb
To swing back and forth or to change regularly, like a pendulum.
The pendulum continued to vacillate before it finally came to rest.
Often appears as...
- vacillate back and forth
- vacillate like a pendulum
verb
To have difficulty making a decision; to go back and forth between different options or choices.
Jim kept vacillating between the two job offers, unsure which one to accept.
Often appears as...
- vacillate between
- vacillate over
verb
To swing back and forth or to change regularly, like a pendulum.
The pendulum continued to vacillate before it finally came to rest.
Often appears as...
- vacillate back and forth
- vacillate like a pendulum
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Indecision
Use 'vacillate' to describe someone who cannot make a firm decision and changes their mind frequently.
Every time we discuss travel plans, Mia vacillates about the destination.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Context
'Vacillate' often implies anxiety or stress about making a decision or choosing sides.
Under the pressure of the moment, he vacillated, unable to choose.
Pro Tip 3/3Not Physical
When using 'vacillate' about decisions, it's metaphorical, not describing physical movement.
She vacillated between studying law or medicine, but never left her chair.
Compare with
alternatefalterfluctuatehesitateoscillateswingwaiverwaver
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Video examples
A roadmap to end aging PIPE...
in favor of carrying on having a lot of kids. And, I say that that's fine -- the future of humanity is entitled to make that choice. What's not fine is for us to make that choice on behalf of the future. If we vacillate, hesitate, and do not actually develop these therapies,
Video examples
Alone on the Ice: The...
they learn about qriket matches in australia and horse races and then the radio operator sydney jeffries goes insane and he ends up completely refusing to broadca he's the only guy knows how to work the radio he ends up vacillating through the whole
Video examples
A roadmap to end aging PIPE...
in favor of carrying on having a lot of kids. And, I say that that's fine -- the future of humanity is entitled to make that choice. What's not fine is for us to make that choice on behalf of the future. If we vacillate, hesitate, and do not actually develop these therapies,
Video examples
Alone on the Ice: The...
they learn about qriket matches in australia and horse races and then the radio operator sydney jeffries goes insane and he ends up completely refusing to broadca he's the only guy knows how to work the radio he ends up vacillating through the whole
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Phil Jackson
American Coach
I think there's something about wanting to stand in the spotlight. I think the ball is a spotlight, for example, and I think they want to stand in that. I a lot of times see - LeBron is a guy that vacillates between wanting to do that and then wanting to get somebody else involved.
Quote examples
Richard Roundtree
American Actor
I constantly deal with being called Shaft, and I vacillate back and forth with people coming up to me about it. But it never ceases to blow me away with the impact that character had on my life and my fans' lives.
Quote examples
Zygmunt Bauman
Polish Sociologist
In our world of rampant 'individualisation', relationships are mixed blessings. They vacillate between a sweet dream and a nightmare, and there is no telling when one turns into the other.
Quote examples
Oneohtrix Point Never
American Musician
I was perpetually this B-minus kid vacillating between eagerness and depression. I wasn't a bad kid, and I definitely wasn't aggressive, but I was a sad kid.
Quote examples
Franz Grillparzer
Austrian Poet
This searching and doubting and vacillating where nothing is clear but the arrogance of quest. I, too, had such noble ideas when I was still a boy.
Quote examples
Heather Cox Richardson
American Historian
The history of the Republican Party is marked by vacillation between its founding principle of opportunity and its domination by the wealthy elite.
Quote examples
Hjalmar Schacht
German Economist
Instead of a weak and vacillating Government, a single, purposeful, energetic personality is ruling today.
Quote examples
Kenneth Baker
English Politician
He has conferred on the practice of vacillation the aura of statesmanship.
Quote examples
Robert Crumb
American Artist
When I come up against the real world, I just vacillate.
Quote examples
Eliot Spitzer
American Lawyer
I don't like politicians who vacillate.
Quote examples
Phil Jackson
American Coach
I think there's something about wanting to stand in the spotlight. I think the ball is a spotlight, for example, and I think they want to stand in that. I a lot of times see - LeBron is a guy that vacillates between wanting to do that and then wanting to get somebody else involved.
Quote examples
Richard Roundtree
American Actor
I constantly deal with being called Shaft, and I vacillate back and forth with people coming up to me about it. But it never ceases to blow me away with the impact that character had on my life and my fans' lives.
Quote examples
Zygmunt Bauman
Polish Sociologist
In our world of rampant 'individualisation', relationships are mixed blessings. They vacillate between a sweet dream and a nightmare, and there is no telling when one turns into the other.
Quote examples
Oneohtrix Point Never
American Musician
I was perpetually this B-minus kid vacillating between eagerness and depression. I wasn't a bad kid, and I definitely wasn't aggressive, but I was a sad kid.
Quote examples
Franz Grillparzer
Austrian Poet
This searching and doubting and vacillating where nothing is clear but the arrogance of quest. I, too, had such noble ideas when I was still a boy.
Quote examples
Heather Cox Richardson
American Historian
The history of the Republican Party is marked by vacillation between its founding principle of opportunity and its domination by the wealthy elite.
Quote examples
Hjalmar Schacht
German Economist
Instead of a weak and vacillating Government, a single, purposeful, energetic personality is ruling today.
Quote examples
Kenneth Baker
English Politician
He has conferred on the practice of vacillation the aura of statesmanship.
Quote examples
Robert Crumb
American Artist
When I come up against the real world, I just vacillate.
Quote examples
Eliot Spitzer
American Lawyer
I don't like politicians who vacillate.
Example 1 of 10
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