vacillate
verb
1 vacillate
Be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action.
synonyms: hover, oscillate, vibrate.
Roget 314:
oscillate;
vibrate,
librate†;
alternate,
undulate,
wave;
rock,
swing;
pulsate,
beat;
wag,
waggle;
nod,
bob,
courtesy,
curtsy;
tick;
play;
wamble†,
wabble†;
dangle,
swag.
fluctuate,
dance,
curvet,
reel,
quake;
quiver,
quaver;
shake,
flicker;
wriggle;
roll,
toss,
pitch;
flounder,
stagger,
totter;
move up and down,
bob up and down
etc.
adv.;
pass and repass,
ebb and flow,
come and go;
vacillate
etc.
605;
teeter [U.S.].
brandish,
shake,
flourish.
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Dutch: wankelen, weifelen
2 vacillate
Move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern:
— The line on the monitor vacillated.
synonyms: fluctuate, waver.
Roget 149:
fluctuate,
vary,
waver,
flounder,
flicker,
flitter,
flit,
flutter,
shift,
shuffle,
shake,
totter,
tremble,
vacillate,
wamble†,
turn and turn about,
ring the changes;
sway to and fro,
shift to and fro;
change and change about;
waffle,
blow with the wind
(irresolute)
605;
oscillate
etc.
314;
vibrate between,
two extremes,
oscillate between,
two extremes;
alternate;
have as man phases as the moon.
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Roget 607:
change one's mind,
change one's intention,
change one's purpose,
change one's note;
abjure,
renounce;
withdraw from
etc.
(relinquish)
624;
waver,
vacillate;
wheel round,
turn round,
veer round;
turn a pirouette;
go over from one side to another,
pass from one side to another,
change from one side to another,
skip from one side to another;
go to the rightabout;
box the compass,
shift one's ground,
go upon another tack.
apostatize,
change sides,
go over,
rat;
recant,
retract;
revoke;
rescind
etc.
(abrogate)
756;
recall;
forswear,
unsay;
come over,
come round to an opinion;
crawfish [U.S.],
crawl [U.S.].
draw in one's horns,
eat one's words;
eat the leek,
swallow the leek;
swerve,
flinch,
back out of,
retrace one's steps,
think better of it;
come back return to one's first love;
turn over a new leaf
etc.
(repent)
950.
trim,
shuffle,
play fast and loose,
blow hot and cold,
coquet,
be on the fence,
straddle,
bold with the hare but run with the hounds;
nager entre deux eaux [Fr.];
wait to see how the cat jumps,
wait to see how the wind blows.
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Moby thesaurus: alternate, back and fill, bob, bobble, careen, change, changeable, chop and change, coggle, dally, dallying, dangle, demurring, dickey, dillydallying, dither, double-minded, doubtful, doubting, ebb and flow, eccentric, equivocate, erratic, falter, faltering, fickle, fiddle-faddle, flounder, fluctuant, fluctuate, fluctuating, flutter, go through phases, halt, halting, hang in doubt, hem and haw, hesitant, hesitate, hesitating, inconstant, indecisive, insecure, irresolute, librate, lurch, mercurial, nutate, oscillate, oscillating, pendulate, pendulous, pitch, reel, resonate, ring the changes, rock, roll, rootless, seesaw, shake, shaky, shift, shifting, shilly-shally, shilly-shallying, shuffle, stagger, stop to consider, swag, sway, swing, teeter, teeter-totter, tentative, tergiversate, think twice, timid, toss, totter, turn, uncertain, unresolved, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, unsure, vacillating, vacillatory, vary, vibrate, volatile, wag, waggle, wave, waver, wavering, wax and wane, weak, weak-kneed, whiffle, wigwag, wobble, wobbly ... show more.
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