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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in irresolute
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vacillating
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Evan Bush, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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
Adjective
Lawsuits have followed many of these funding actions, and the subsequent back-and-forth legal battles have left some grants vacillating between canceled and reinstated.
—Evan Bush, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacillating
Verb
-
Because life—even for us jaded adults—should be for the seizing, not for hesitating in the face of fear.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Meyers acted his dang butt off in this sketch, and the audience paid him back with unsure and hesitating titters — not crickets, but not enthusiasm either.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The situation is impossible, irresolute— the B.J. Vineses and priests of the world shouldn’t get to walk away scot free.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
14 Apr. 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
Verb
-
History will probably remember this Ravens team for faltering because of injuries, namely to their starting quarterback.—
Saad Yousuf,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
-
The Street is critical of Cornell for not initiating enough changes and corrections to improve Target’s business, which has been faltering for several seasons.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The industry has an uncertain few years ahead, but for now an era of harmony between streamers and networks has broken out.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
12 Oct. 2025
-
But three days after Bichette’s post-clinch proclamation, the shortstop’s status for the ALCS remains uncertain.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
As this section is still early on in the design phase, the leaders are unsure about how long the road will be shut down, if at all.—
Rachel Royster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 Oct. 2025
-
With Feyenoord’s defenders unsure whether to engage, Rogers had time and space to drive.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Consumer sentiment soured in October as a government shutdown threatens to weaken a wobbly economy beset by an uptick in inflation and a sharp slowdown of hiring, fresh data on Friday showed.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 Oct. 2025
-
The film’s greatest feat isn’t its wobbly characterizations, but its setting — the stretches of strip malls and chain businesses that make up most of America but rarely get showcased onscreen so thoughtfully.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Now his defense team, led by attorney Arthur Aidala, is fighting to eliminate his retrial conviction and head off another retrial on the undecided count.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
11 Oct. 2025
-
The poll shows that 9 percent remain undecided.—
Deputy News Editor,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Swift said that the album, which has received several glowing reviews as well as numerous ambivalent critiques, has been embraced by the Swiftie fandom.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Like the operas Li recalled, this moment is characterized by a kind of emotional extravagance that does not permit the ambivalent second thought.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vacillating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacillating. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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