Synonyms of irresolute

irresolute 1 of 2

adjective

as in weak

formal not certain about what to do; not resolute

He has been criticized as an irresolute leader.

Related Words

• weak
• uncertain
• hesitant
• indecisive
• wavering
• infirm
• vacillating
• unsure
• frail
• questioning
• halting
• ambivalent
• nerveless
• spineless
• weakened
• wimpy
• equivocal
• effete
• characterless
• conflicted
• milk-and-water
• faltering
• weak-kneed
• invertebrate
• wishy-washy
• wimpish
• doubtful
• weakling
• wobbly
• wet
• undecided
• ineffectual
• limp-wristed
• namby-pamby
• soft
• ineffective
• flabby
• flaccid
• forceless

Dissimilar Words

• resolute
• decisive
• unrelenting
• determined
• certain
• positive
• sure
• mettlesome
• convinced

irresolution

2 of 2

noun

as in hesitation

a state or an instance of temporary inaction because of uncertainty about the right course of action

after a moment of anguished irresolution, I raised my rifle and fired at the charging animal

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hesitation
• hesitancy
• hesitance
• pause
• vacillation
• indecision
• delay
• wavering
• deliberation
• uncertainty
• faltering
• wobbling
• fence-sitting
• shilly-shallying
• shilly-shally
• doubt
• waiting
• procrastination
• indecisiveness
• reluctance
• indetermination
• incertitude
• hawing
• indisposition
• consideration
• timidity
• debate
• second thought
• unwillingness
• avoidance
• misgiving
• equivocation
• faintheartedness
• disinclination
• arrière-pensée
• uncertainness
• shyness
• timidness
• aversion

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• resolution
• determination
• certainty
• confidence
• firmness
• certitude
• decisiveness
• readiness
• resoluteness
• sureness
• eagerness
• alacrity

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of irresolute

Adjective

Both Fortune and Harris express having great empathy for the protagonist, who was an insecure girl that had an irresolute boyfriend and made a grave mistake. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 11 June 2026

Where Trump is unrelenting and single-minded, the justices have been inconsistent and unpredictable, and therefore appear irresolute. — Noah Feldman, Twin Cities, 24 Dec. 2025

Downtown, in his studio at the corner of White and Cortlandt Alley, on a Thursday evening in late July, Wyeth sat on his stool and considered the irresolute underpainting on his canvas. — Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025

The prevailing sense among investors and market handicappers entering the month was to expect choppy, irresolute action full of potential scares. — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2024

Showing signs of being irresolute can signal weakness that adversaries take note of. — Michael Poznansky, Foreign Affairs, 5 Jan. 2024

Noun

In those heady decades of postmodern language-play and seductive irresolution, claims for literature as a force for truth and justice would likely be dismissed, with a smirk, as humanist pieties. — Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026

The Oslo musician’s debut album is a darkly glamorous blur of trip-hop and dance pop, with copious reverb and Auto-Tune as stand-ins for yearning, uneasiness, and irresolution. — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 22 Jan. 2026