as in irresolute
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Dissimilar Words
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vacillating
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacillating
Adjective
-
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,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Trump has criticized European countries for rejecting or hesitating to get involved in the war with Iran.—
NPR Staff,
NPR,
17 Apr. 2026
-
The Academy seems comfortable celebrating individual excellence within horror while hesitating to crown its films as definitive achievements.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The team now plans to further refine the method for broader industrial applications where robots must operate under uncertain or changing conditions.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
7 May 2026
-
In March, Beijing set its lowest growth target in decades, as the world’s second-largest economy grapples with weak domestic demand and an uncertain global outlook.—
Sylvie Zhuang,
CNN Money,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
Meanwhile, the company that made their name keeps faltering towards the point of no return.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
-
Most of that was driven by faltering corporation tax receipts.—
Keith M. Phaneuf,
Hartford Courant,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
Like many students, Headley is now left in limbo, unsure how finals will be submitted or graded.—
Tori Mason,
CBS News,
8 May 2026
-
The Mets are unsure if his hip led to decreased velocity.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
7 May 2026
Adjective
-
On the Edmonton end, Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid, who led the NHL in defensive scoring and scoring period, respectively, are humming along offensively after wobbly starts to the series.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Soon the series saw its second significant head injury, as a wobbly Hurricanes rookie Alexander Nikishin required escorting off the ice after a massive, unpenalized hit from Ottawa Senators behemoth Tyler Kleven.—
James Mirtle,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Some of the incumbents lost by more than 20 percentage points, and at least one of those races remained undecided late Tuesday evening.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
6 May 2026
-
The number of undecided voters dropped from 24% in the last survey to 14%, an indication that more Californians have honed in on a candidate with ballots starting to arrive in mailboxes early this week.—
Claire Wang,
Oc Register,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
But these unknown early writings suggest that he may be better understood as an immigrant writer—one of the gifted, ambivalent outsiders who remade American literature after World War II—whose most astonishing achievement was the all-American voice of On the Road and the books that came after.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The book’s ambivalent nostalgia has not kept it from succeeding prodigiously.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Vacillating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacillating. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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