vacillation
noun
vac·il·la·tion
ˌva-sə-ˈlā-shən 
1
: an act or instance of vacillating
2
: inability to take a stand : irresolution, indecision
Synonyms
Examples of vacillation in a Sentence
the president was soundly criticized for his vacillation before responding to the crisis
Recent Examples on the Web
Gray whales seem to have gone through these more dramatic vacillations, enduring three different periods of major mortalities and bouncing back before the most recent five-year event.
—
Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
More recent vacillation includes ever-changing advice on masks, a re-evaluation of the lab-leak theory, the confidence-undermining pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and now encouraging alarmism with misleading claims about the number of Delta variant breakthrough cases.
—WSJ, 5 Aug. 2021
The Biden White House’s spineless vacillation only validates the terrible timelessness of that truth.
—The Editors, National Review, 3 Nov. 2023
The big surprise is that China appears to have stepped in to fill the vacuum left by American vacillation in the Middle East.
—David A. Andelman, CNN, 11 Mar. 2023
Her ability to keep her word flow off-balance matched her vacillation between strength and weakness, happiness and sadness, codependence and independence.
—Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2023
The team official placed blame for the league's vacillation squarely on Vincent.
—Dave Clark, The Enquirer, 10 Jan. 2023
Ambivalence became vacillation, subtlety melted into evasion.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 21 Dec. 2022
Voters’ vacillation between a long career ahead and the thrill of honoring a career found late in life was evident in the voting results.
—Leila Cobo, Billboard, 17 Nov. 2022
Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
More recent vacillation includes ever-changing advice on masks, a re-evaluation of the lab-leak theory, the confidence-undermining pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and now encouraging alarmism with misleading claims about the number of Delta variant breakthrough cases.
—WSJ, 5 Aug. 2021
The Biden White House’s spineless vacillation only validates the terrible timelessness of that truth.
—The Editors, National Review, 3 Nov. 2023
The big surprise is that China appears to have stepped in to fill the vacuum left by American vacillation in the Middle East.
—David A. Andelman, CNN, 11 Mar. 2023
Her ability to keep her word flow off-balance matched her vacillation between strength and weakness, happiness and sadness, codependence and independence.
—Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2023
The team official placed blame for the league's vacillation squarely on Vincent.
—Dave Clark, The Enquirer, 10 Jan. 2023
Ambivalence became vacillation, subtlety melted into evasion.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 21 Dec. 2022
Voters’ vacillation between a long career ahead and the thrill of honoring a career found late in life was evident in the voting results.
—Leila Cobo, Billboard, 17 Nov. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vacillation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near vacillation
Cite this Entry
“Vacillation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vacillation. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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