as in hesitated
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
vacillated for so long that someone else stepped in and made the decision
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Recent Examples of vacillated
Trump has just vacillated hardest in Kyiv’s favour.
—
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
But the Broncos have vacillated all over the map in efficiency on every down the last two weeks, and have seen their offense come to a screeching fourth-quarter halt in close losses because of it.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025
Trump calls out political rivals in wide-ranging eulogy Trump vacillated between eulogizing Kirk, celebrating his political achievements, and taking shots at his rivals, including former President Joe Biden.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 21 Sep. 2025
However, recent editions have vacillated wildly in scorelines.
—Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
This means his net approval rating in the last four weeks has vacillated between -14 points and -15 points.
—Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Aug. 2025
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Sep. 2025
But the Broncos have vacillated all over the map in efficiency on every down the last two weeks, and have seen their offense come to a screeching fourth-quarter halt in close losses because of it.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025
Trump calls out political rivals in wide-ranging eulogy Trump vacillated between eulogizing Kirk, celebrating his political achievements, and taking shots at his rivals, including former President Joe Biden.
—N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 21 Sep. 2025
However, recent editions have vacillated wildly in scorelines.
—Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
This means his net approval rating in the last four weeks has vacillated between -14 points and -15 points.
—Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacillated
Verb
-
The international community has not hesitated to recognize genocide in other contexts.—
Faisal Kutty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
-
Democrats who come off poorly in it have not hesitated to disagree with her.—
David Weigel,
semafor.com,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
With a chance to win a three-game series at Los Angeles and make a last-minute statement, Jax faltered.—
Dan Hayes,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Years later, Rick Ankiel, a Cardinals pitcher, could no longer throw strikes—yet, when he was moved to the outfield, his accuracy rarely faltered from a greater distance.—
Jonathan Blitzer,
New Yorker,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vacillated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacillated. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
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