Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
vacillate - 3 dictionary results

vac⋅il⋅late

  [vas-uh-leyt]
Use vacillate in a Sentence
–verb (used without object), -lat⋅ed, -lat⋅ing.
1. to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute: His tendency to vacillate makes him a poor leader.
2. to sway unsteadily; waver; totter; stagger.
3. to oscillate or fluctuate.
Origin:
1590–1600; < L vacillātus (ptp. of vacillāre to sway to and fro); see -ate 1

Related forms:
vac⋅il⋅la⋅tor, noun

Synonyms:
1. hesitate. See waver. 2. reel.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To vacillate
vac·il·late   (vās'ə-lāt')   
intr.v.   vac·il·lat·ed, vac·il·lat·ing, vac·il·lates
  1. To sway from one side to the other; oscillate.
  2. To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another. See Synonyms at hesitate.

[Latin vacillāre, vacillāt-, to waver.]
vac'il·lat'ing·ly adv., vac'il·la'tion n., vac'il·la'tor n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Vacillate

Vac"il*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Vacillated; p. pr. & vb. n. Vacillating.] [L. vacillare, vacillatum; cf. Skr. va[~n]c.]

1. To move one way and the other; to reel or stagger; to waver.

[A spheroid] is always liable to shift and vacillatefrom one axis to another. --Paley.

2. To fluctuate in mind or opinion; to be unsteady or inconstant; to waver.

Syn: See Fluctuate.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see vacillate on Thesaurus | Reference