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

• faltering
• fence-sitting
• hesitance
• hesitancy
• hesitation
• indecision
• irresolution
• pause
• shilly-shally
• shilly-shallying
• wavering
• wobbling
• wabbling

Examples of vacillation in a Sentence

the president was soundly criticized for his vacillation before responding to the crisis

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Medo’s vacillation between moneymaking and altruism has profoundly shaped this new industry. —Sushma Subramanian, Washington Post, 13 May 2022

After our fleeting brush with normalcy during Omicron’s retreat, another very transmissible new version of the coronavirus is on the rise—and with it, a fresh wave of vacillation between mask-donning and mask-doffing. —Yasmin Tayag, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2022

The Trump administration’s tilt toward Riyadh and an Israel-Arab détente has been replaced by vacillation. —Gerard Baker, WSJ, 10 Jan. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English vacillacion, borrowed from Latin vacillātiōn-, vacillātiō, from vacillāre "to be unsteady, vacillate" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1