Synonyms of vacillating

vacillating 1 of 2

adjective

as in irresolute

Related Words

• irresolute
• uncertain
• unsure
• questioning
• wobbly
• undecided
• ambivalent
• faltering
• conflicted
• doubtful
• equivocal
• afraid
• reluctant
• hesitant
• loath
• indisposed
• dubious
• disinclined

Dissimilar Words

• certain
• decided
• resolute
• sure
• unambivalent
• unquestioning

vacillating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of vacillate

as in hesitating

to show uncertainty about the right course of action

vacillated for so long that someone else stepped in and made the decision

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hesitating
• faltering
• wavering
• dithering
• debating
• waiting
• staggering
• balancing
• halting
• hanging back
• teetering
• wobbling
• pausing
• swaying
• scrupling
• lingering
• shilly-shallying
• pondering
• hawing
• deliberating
• procrastinating
• delaying
• dawdling
• waffling
• weighing
• equivocating
• hemming
• oscillating
• considering
• backing down
• dallying
• hedging
• pussyfooting
• chickening (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• deciding
• plunging (in)
• stirring
• diving (in)
• continuing
• advancing
• budging

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of vacillating

Adjective

This is the Alcaraz who is unbeatable, a man who cut out the vacillating streaks in his game that derailed him in Melbourne and Wimbledon. — Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

Verb

That has had a ripsaw effect on Musk, who is now vacillating between being the world’s first active trillionaire and the world’s first former-trillionaire. — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 2 July 2026

Legally an adult but still a teenager and finding your footing in the world, vacillating between feeling invincible and feeling minuscule. — Bailey Johnson, Washington Post, 21 June 2026

The status of further peace talks and other key details of the current relationship between the warring powers have grown increasingly opaque, with Trump vacillating between resuming saber-rattling rhetoric and indicating Washington’s readiness for additional negotiations with Iran. — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 21 Apr. 2026

Trump has been more active than ever on social media in his second term, including posting lengthy all-caps screeds offering vacillating updates on the war. — Alexander Smith, NBC news, 30 Mar. 2026

This hesitation was not the result of vacillating between options in indecision, but an active and regulated brain process to pause before acting due to environmental uncertainty. — Eric Yttri, The Conversation, 12 Feb. 2026

Virginia Ritter spent most of her of the rest of her life vacillating between empathy and anger for her daughter's killer, all the while serving as a fierce victims' rights advocate in Nashville. — Brad Schmitt, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Nov. 2025

By the end of March 2018 Aydın seemed unsure whether to try to clear his name or lay low, vacillating between the two strategies. — Moisés Naím, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025

The actress' create a world that engulfs you into their faux-showbusiness drama, a world of women vacillating between supporting each other and backstabbing to get themselves ahead, with striking performances that led to Oscar nominations for Davis, Ritter, Holm and Baxter. — Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025