vacillating
vacillating is the present participle and gerund of vacillate.
Meaning of vacillate
Verb
vacillate (third-person singular simple present vacillates, present participle vacillating, simple past and past participle vacillated)
- To sway unsteadily from one side to the other; oscillate.
- Its [the barometer's] normal register in the Paumotus [the Tuamotus] was 29.90, and it was quite customary to see it vacillate between 29.85 and 30.00, or even 30.05; […]1910, Jack London, The Heathen
- Synonyms:
- stagger
- To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.
- Courageous, patriotic, yet vacillating, many of the noblest principles and the purest intentions, men of large possessions and ancient names, under the afflicting circumstances of the times, failed to render service to their unhappy country, but involved themselves in irremediable ruin.1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXIX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 68
- Synonyms:
- blow hot and cold, waffle
Adjective
vacillating (comparative more vacillating, superlative most vacillating)
- Liable to vacillate.
- Synonyms:
- vacillatory, indecisive, irresolute, wavering, wishy-washy
- Antonyms:
- resolute, unwavering, steadfast, firm
Noun
vacillating (countable and uncountable, plural vacillatings)
- Vacillation.
- It was vacillatings, misgivings, and deliberate calculations of this kind that paved the way […]1949, The Modern Quarterly, volume 5, page 52
Synonyms of vacillating
Antonyms
Forms of vacillating
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more vacillating |
| superlative | most vacillating |
| Noun | |
| plural | vacillatings |
Words formed from vacillating
Questions about vacillating
- What does vacillating mean?
- Vacillating means liable to vacillate.
- What is vacillating the present participle and gerund of?
- Vacillating is the present participle and gerund of vacillate.
- What part of speech is vacillating?
- Vacillating can be an adjective or a noun.
Words near vacillating in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vacillating (page history and authors); vacillate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “vacillating.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vacillating. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.