waver
/ˈweɪvə
/verb [no object]
1Move in a quivering way; flicker: the flame wavered in the draught...
- The small rectangle of silver metal clicked against his claws as he flipped the lid open, the electric spark igniting the gas in a blue flame that wavered in a draught.
- But before he had a chance to say anything else, the screen began flickering and wavering erratically.
- The ceiling wavered and shimmered, flickering in and out of clarity.
Synonyms
flicker, quiver, tremble, twinkle, glimmer, wink, blink
2Become weaker; falter: his love for her had never wavered (as adjective wavering) she gave a wavering smile...
- Derrick wavered when seeing her smile and sighed.
- We will not waver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.
- He accedes to her request to allow Neel to become her protégé and even though he sees the two becoming close, he never wavers in his trust of his wife nor does he falter in supporting her humane treatment of Neel.
Synonyms
become unsteady, falter, wobble, tremble, hesitate
2.1Be undecided between two opinions or courses of action: she never wavered from her intention...
- Williams never wavered from that claim of innocence and said he refused to confess to crimes he did not commit, even if doing so would save his life.
- We have come in for our share of criticism, some of it defamatory, but we have never wavered from this message.
- In the 1820s Hugo came in touch with liberal writers, but his political stand wavered from side to side.
Synonyms
be undecided, be irresolute, be indecisive, hesitate, dither, equivocate, vacillate, fluctuate, see-saw, yo-yo;
think twice, change one's mind, get cold feet, dally, stall;
British haver, hum and haw
informal dilly-dally, shilly-shally, pussyfoot around, blow hot and cold, sit on the fence
rare tergiversate
Derivatives
waverer
/ noun ...- It goes a substantial way towards neutralising the environment as an issue and it will encourage some waverers to cast their lot with the Coalition.
- The Nobel Prize has been declined on only two occasions, although there have been waverers.
- It won't be enough for some, but it will win back most of the waverers.
waveringly
- ‘Merry Christmas,’ I greeted her waveringly, handing her the gift-wrapped box of chocolates I'd bought awkwardly.
- The light from the TV flickered over her face, casting it's blue-white waveringly.
- She leaned in to waveringly kiss him, then for a while she was quiet.
wavery
- Her reflection was wavery, but you could see her dark reddish brown, waist length hair, baby blue eyes, high cheekbones, and full red lips.
- Everything had a wavery look to it, like when you put on glasses that are the wrong prescription or you just plain don't need glasses.
- Something was there, something wavery, indistinct, rising from the water.
Origin
Middle English: from Old Norse vafra 'flicker', of Germanic origin. Compare with wave.
Rhymes
- Newby, Eric
- New Caledonia
- New Caledonian
- New Canadian
- New Carthage
- Newcastle
- Newcastle, 1st Duke of
- Newcastle coal
- Newcastle disease
- New Christian
- New Christian Right
- new chum
- new class
- new-coined
- new collar
- Newcombe, John
- new-come
- New Comedy
- Newcomen, Thomas
- newcomer
- Newcomer's organ
- New Commonwealth
- New Covenant
- new-create
- new-created