† fluctuateadj.
Obsolete.
Tossed on the waves; fickle as the waves, wavering.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective]
unfastc888
unstathelfasteOE
unsteadfasta1200
fleeting?c1225
changeablea1275
ficklea1275
unstablec1290
waveringc1315
flickerc1325
loose in the haftc1325
motleyc1380
unsadc1384
variablea1387
variantc1386
ticklec1400
inconstant1402
flitting1413
brittle1420
plianta1425
mutablec1425
shittle1440
shittle-witted1448
moonishc1450
unconstant1483
unfirm1483
varying?a1500
pliablea1513
fluctuant1575
changeling1577
shittle-headed1580
cheverel1583
off and on1583
chameleon-like1589
changeful1590
limber1602
unsteady1604
ticklish1606
skittish1609
startling1619
labile1623
uncertaina1625
cheverelized1625
remuant1625
fluctuate1631
fluctuary1632
various1636
contrarious1643
epileptical1646
fluxilea1654
shittle-braineda1655
multivolent1656
totter-headed1662
on and off1668
self-inconsistent1678
weathercocka1680
whifflinga1680
versatile1682
veering1684
fast and loose1697
inconsistent1709
insteadfast1728
unfixing1810
unsteadied1814
chameleonic1821
labefact1874
ballastless1884
weathercocky1886
whiffle-minded1902
1631 S. Jerome Arraignem. Whole Creature x. §2. 86 The godly man hath his..sure Anchor, when he seemes to be fluctuate.
1631 S. Jerome Arraignem. Whole Creature xv. §4. 278 Ever vaine, and foolish, and fluctuate in all our wayes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
fluctuatev.
/ˈflʌktʃʊeɪt/, /ˈflʌktjʊeɪt/, U.S. /ˈfləktʃəˌweɪt/ 1. intransitive. To move like a wave or waves, rise and fall in or as in waves; to be tossed up and down on the waves; literal or with conscious metaphor. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > move to and fro or up and down [verb (intransitive)] > rise and fall
heave1627
fluctuate1656
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Fluctuate, to rise in waves and surges, to be boisterous and rough; to waver, doubt, or be uncertain.
1659 T. Pecke Parnassi Puerperium 75 I can't call him Rich, or Poor; whose Estate, Upon deluding Waters, fluctuate.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 128 The..Mists, which we could discern fluctuating against the impenetrable Promontories.
1711 W. King Ruffinus 98 So sounds, so fluctuates, the troubled sea.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 549. ¶2 The greatest Part of my Estate has been Hitherto of an unsteady and volatile Nature, either tost upon Seas or fluctuating in Funds.
c1750 W. Shenstone Ruin'd Abbey 57 Sees the strong vessel fluctuate, less secure.
1754 W. Warburton Wks. (1811) X. xxxii. 270 Wanting those principles..human knowledge only fluctuates in the head, but comes not near the heart.
1793 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches in Poems (1888) 20/1 The traveller sees Thy [France's] three-striped banner fluctuate on the breeze.
1809 T. Campbell Gertrude of Wyoming ii. xvi Wild-cane arch..That fluctuates when the storms of El Dorado sound.
1849 W. C. Bryant Prairies 13 The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye.
2. figurative. (Now chiefly without allusion to the literal sense.)
a. Of things, conditions, etc.: To vary irregularly, undergo alternating changes in level, position, form, constituent elements, etc.: to be unstable or unsettled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change [verb (intransitive)] > fluctuate or vary
varyc1369
diversify1481
waver1490
to ring (the) changes1614
fluctuate1655
windmill1694
range1750
vibrate1782
vacillate1835
scale1974
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ii. 111 But not successive [Monarchs] and fixed in a Family, but fluctuating from one Kingdome to another.
1735 J. Atkins Voy. Guinea Pref. p. xxii Our Bodies..are continually fluctuating, and changing while we live.
1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 13 Average estimates are never just but when the object fluctuates.
1779 J. Jay in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) II. 283 The Committee..fluctuates, new members constantly coming in, and old ones going out.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby i. 1 Mr. Nickleby's income..fluctuated between sixty and eighty pounds per annum.
1866 A. Crump Pract. Treat. Banking i. 20 Money fluctuates in price like any other article.
1874 E. O. M. Deutsch Lit. Remains 343 We see the text [of a Targum] fluctuating down to the middle of the 2nd century.
b. Of persons: To pass to and fro, from one opinion, sentiment, or course of conduct, to another; to vacillate, waver.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)]
haltc825
flecchec1300
waverc1315
flickerc1325
wag1387
swervea1400
floghter1521
stacker1526
to be of (occasionally in) many (also divers) minds1530
wave1532
stagger1533
to hang in the wind1536
to waver as, like, with the wind1548
mammer1554
sway1563
dodge1568
erch1584
suspend1585
float1598
swag1608
hoverc1620
hesitate1623
vacillate1623
fluctuate1634
demur1641
balance1656
to be at shall I, shall I (not)1674
to stand shall I, shall I1674
to go shill-I shall-I1700
to stand at shilly-shally1700
to act, to keep (upon), the volanta1734
whiffle1737
dilly-dally1740
to be in (also of, occasionally on) two minds (also in twenty minds, in (also of) several minds, etc.)1751
oscillate1771
shilly-shally1782
dacker1817
librate1822
humdrum1825
swing1833
(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1848
to back and fill1854
haver1866
wobble1867
shaffle1873
dicker1879
to be on the weigh-scales1886
waffle1894
to think twice1898
to teeter on the brink1902
dither1908
vagulate1918
pern1920
1634 in Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 378 His Majestie..fluctuating by that occasion betuix love and feare.
1684 T. Hockin Disc. God's Decrees 248 Like silly Children..fluctuating in our opinions.
1793 E. Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 133 After fluctuating a long time without any system, we have adopted one that..is completely ruinous.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth v, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 126 [His features] fluctuating between shamefacedness and apprehension of her displeasure.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. iv. 219 Lotharingia, the border land, ever fluctuating in its allegiance.
3. transitive.
a. To throw into fluctuation; to unsettle.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > cause nervous excitement or agitate [verb (transitive)]
to carry away?1529
agitate1591
fermentate1599
tumultuate1616
alarm1620
overwork1645
uncalm1650
flutter1664
pother1692
to set afloata1713
fluctuate1788
fuss1816
tumult1819
to break up1825
rile1857
to steam up1860
to shake up1884
1788 F. Burney Diary 28 July (1842) IV. 204 The thought of guiding their mother..flattered and fluctuated them.
b. To throw into a wave-like motion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > move to and fro or up and down [verb (transitive)] > cause to rise and fall or undulate
enwave1610
heave1612
undulate1669
fluctuate1850
oozle1934
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xciii. 140 A breeze began to..fluctuate all the still perfume. View more context for this quotation
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1631
v.1634