vacillate
verb /ˈvæsəleɪt/
/ˈvæsəleɪt/
[intransitive] (formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they vacillate | /ˈvæsəleɪt/ /ˈvæsəleɪt/ |
| he / she / it vacillates | /ˈvæsəleɪts/ /ˈvæsəleɪts/ |
| past simple vacillated | /ˈvæsəleɪtɪd/ /ˈvæsəleɪtɪd/ |
| past participle vacillated | /ˈvæsəleɪtɪd/ /ˈvæsəleɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form vacillating | /ˈvæsəleɪtɪŋ/ /ˈvæsəleɪtɪŋ/ |
- to keep changing your opinion or thoughts about something, especially in a way that annoys other people synonym waver
- The country’s leaders are still vacillating between confrontation and compromise.
Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the sense ‘sway unsteadily’): from Latin vacillat- ‘swayed’, from the verb vacillare.