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 vacillated between indifference and contempt for the USMCA, at times threatening to pull out of the agreement altogether and work instead to negotiate two separate, bilateral deals with Mexico and Canada.
—
Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 18 Mar. 2026
Trump’s remarks vacillated between defiant and scathing.
—Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026
Trump has vacillated in his public statements on the deal.
—Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026
Aaron Peskin, another supervisor who leaned left, said that Newsom vacillated all the way to the end, as if awaiting the arrival of new information.
—Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
While on the stand, Bianchi vacillated between different versions of his story and denied several elements of his original confession.
—Kelsey Lentz, PEOPLE, 18 Jan. 2026
His role has vacillated from being a starter or an offensive catalyst off the bench, but his attitude never wavers.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026
Ware has vacillated out of and then into and then out of and now back into the starting lineup.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Since then, academic institutions at nearly every level have vacillated between outright AI bans to formal partnerships with AI companies.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 22 Dec. 2025
Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 18 Mar. 2026
Trump’s remarks vacillated between defiant and scathing.
—Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2026
Trump has vacillated in his public statements on the deal.
—Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026
Aaron Peskin, another supervisor who leaned left, said that Newsom vacillated all the way to the end, as if awaiting the arrival of new information.
—Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
While on the stand, Bianchi vacillated between different versions of his story and denied several elements of his original confession.
—Kelsey Lentz, PEOPLE, 18 Jan. 2026
His role has vacillated from being a starter or an offensive catalyst off the bench, but his attitude never wavers.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026
Ware has vacillated out of and then into and then out of and now back into the starting lineup.
—Fred Katz, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Since then, academic institutions at nearly every level have vacillated between outright AI bans to formal partnerships with AI companies.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 22 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacillated
Verb
-
The striker hesitated and allowed Trevoh Chalobah to tackle.—
Simon Johnson,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
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That's over twice the value of gold from just one year ago, and now investors who once hesitated to buy gold are weighing whether the opportunity has already passed — or whether the metal still has room to run.—
Angelica Leicht,
CBS News,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Despite tremendous personal hurdles in her young life, her love for theatre has never faltered.—
Heide Janssen,
Oc Register,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Top-seeded Michigan survived an uninspiring performance to hold off Ohio State 71-67, while fourth-seeded Illinois blew a 15-point lead and faltered down the stretch in a 91-88 overtime loss to Wisconsin.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Vacillated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacillated. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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