undecisiveadj.
1. = indecisive adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > insecure knowledge, uncertainty > questionable state or quality > [adjective] > incapable of being decided
indeterminable1611
undeterminablea1639
undecidable1640
inconcludinga1644
indijudicable1660
undecisive1661
fallible1664
inconcludent1671
inconclusive1700
indecisive1726
1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing 132 The two Nations differing about the antiquity of their Language, made appeal to an undecisive experiment.
1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xxxv. 39 Undecisive, qualifying measures will disgrace your government still more than open violence.
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) I. 24 The analyses..present different results, and consequently are undecisive.
1807 G. Chalmers Caledonia I. 291 At Air-Gialla..an undecisive conflict was fought.
1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Aeneid ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 278 When a bull..from his neck Hath shaken out the undecisive axe.
2. = indecisive adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [adjective]
twiredec888
orrathc1175
twofoldc1175
twifoldc1200
waveringc1315
uncertain1382
suspensec1440
mammeringa1450
flowing?1504
floghtering1521
vacillant1521
in a mammering1532
double-minded1552
unstaid1561
unresolute1570
unresolved?1571
staggeringa1577
frittle1579
irresolute1579
cheverel1583
off and on1583
halting1585
unsettleda1593
unresolving1599
demurring1607
waving1611
suspensive1614
hoveringa1616
startling1619
irresolved1621
hesitating1622
indetermined1628
variousa1643
branling1645
hesitant1647
non-sincere1656
hesitatious1657
humdrum1660
shuttlecock1660
yea-and-nay1672
swaying1688
interpendent1708
undetermined1718
Squadronec1720
hesitatorya1734
volanta1734
shilly-shally1734
dilly-dally1749
niffy-naffy1765
wiggle-waggle1778
undecided1779
undecisive1780
indecisive1787
conflicted1789
hesitative1795
undeciding1802
vacillating1814
yea-nay1827
demurrant1836
willy-nilly1839
shilly-shallying1842
oscillative1852
Hamletish1854
vacillatory1854
dilly-dallying1879
thistledown1897
weak-principled1913
not-quite1920
off-again on-again1923
dithery1931
havering1975
1780 Mirror No. 104 My poor friend, naturally of an undecisive temper,..had accustomed himself to deliberate on every trifle.
1802 J. Wolcot Pitt & Statue in Wks. (1812) IV. 510 So very undecisive in decision, Leaving for future Chancery-traps provision.
Derivatives
undeˈcisively adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [adverb]
in a waver1519
uncertainly1555
waveringlya1603
irresolutely1617
unresolvedly1621
off and ona1641
hesitantly1660
humdrum1660
irresolvedly1680
undecisively1771
hesitatingly1800
on or upon the waver1806
indecisively1828
vacillatinglya1849
oscillatively1852
hesitatively1881
shakenly1890
1771 J. Macpherson Introd. Hist. Great Brit. & Ireland 174 Their law~giver and prophets..speak very obscurely, as well as undecisively, upon the subject.
undeˈcisiveness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [noun]
yea-and-nayc1384
vacillationc1400
titteringa1413
stackeringc1440
wondingc1440
fluctuationc1450
waver1519
mammering1532
uncertainty1548
wavering1548
to and fro1553
suspense1560
staggering1565
suspension1568
mammery1578
demur1581
branle1591
dilly-dally1592
hesitance1601
irresolution1601
uncertainness1601
undecision1611
waveringness1614
hesitancy1617
unsettledness1619
hesitation1622
unresolvednessa1626
doubleness of minda1628
wavinga1628
swagging1636
poise1637
mambling1640
stickagea1647
vacillancy1668
whifflinga1677
hovering1679
unresolve1679
irresoluteness1686
shilly-shally1755
indecisiona1763
undecisiveness1779
indecisiveness1793
oscillation1798
flexility1815
shilly-shallying1842
swaying1850
Hamletism1852
teeter1855
havering1866
off and on1875
dilly-dallying1879
double-mindedness1881
hesitatingness1890
dither1958
1779 Ann. Reg. 1778 30/2 The undecisiveness of the campaign had..occasioned a prodigious desertion on both sides.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1661