| 释义 |
ˈvacillating, ppl. a.
[f. prec.]
1. Of persons: Given to vacillation.
a1814Wordsw. Excurs. iv. 309 The bad Have fairly earned a victory o'er..The vacillating, inconsistent good. 1844Mem. Babylonian Princ. II. 57 This vacillating man..wrote a second time. 1860Pusey Min. Proph. 86 The vacillating sinner,..impelled by his sufferings, yet presenting a passive resistance. 1872Yeats Growth Comm. 232 The vacillating monarch restored the fishing privilege.
2. Of conduct, etc.: Marked by vacillation.
1828D'Israeli Chas. I, II. v. 132 [The] address..throws a clear and steady light on the vacillating conduct of Charles the First. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iii. 255 Very unwillingly..he was compelled to act his vacillating part to England. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola xli, The vacillating expression of a mind unable to concentrate itself strongly.
3. Of things:
a. Varying, changeful.
b. Unsteady, swaying.
1822Scott Peveril i, Following the vacillating and unhappy fortunes of his master. a1827M'Arthur in Good Study Med. (1829) II. 180 Pulse quick, generally full and strong, in some cases quick, low, and vacillating. 1834Lytton Pompeii iv. v, He..rushed with swift but vacillating steps down the starlit streets.
Hence ˈvacillatingly adv.
a1849Poe Marginalia Wks. 1864 III. 565 He has made successful and frequent incursions, although vacillatingly, into the domain of the true Imagination. |