vacillatingadj.
1. Of persons: Given to vacillation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [adjective]
twiredec888
orrathc1175
twofoldc1175
twifoldc1200
waveringc1315
uncertain1382
suspensec1440
mammeringa1450
flowing?1504
floghtering1521
vacillant1521
in a mammering1532
double-minded1552
unstaid1561
unresolute1570
unresolved?1571
staggeringa1577
frittle1579
irresolute1579
cheverel1583
off and on1583
halting1585
unsettleda1593
unresolving1599
demurring1607
waving1611
suspensive1614
hoveringa1616
startling1619
irresolved1621
hesitating1622
indetermined1628
variousa1643
branling1645
hesitant1647
non-sincere1656
hesitatious1657
humdrum1660
shuttlecock1660
yea-and-nay1672
swaying1688
interpendent1708
undetermined1718
Squadronec1720
hesitatorya1734
volanta1734
shilly-shally1734
dilly-dally1749
niffy-naffy1765
wiggle-waggle1778
undecided1779
undecisive1780
indecisive1787
conflicted1789
hesitative1795
undeciding1802
vacillating1814
yea-nay1827
demurrant1836
willy-nilly1839
shilly-shallying1842
oscillative1852
Hamletish1854
vacillatory1854
dilly-dallying1879
thistledown1897
weak-principled1913
not-quite1920
off-again on-again1923
dithery1931
havering1975
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion iv. 155 The Bad Have fairly earned a victory o'er..The vacillating, inconsistent good. View more context for this quotation
1844 tr. M. T. Asmar Mem. Babylonian Princess II. 57 This vacillating man..wrote a second time.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 86 The vacillating sinner,..impelled by his sufferings, yet presenting a passive resistance.
1872 J. Yeats Growth Commerce 232 The vacillating monarch restored the fishing privilege.
2. Of conduct, etc.: Marked by vacillation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [adjective] > of purpose, resolution, etc.
softening1600
vacillatorya1734
unfirm1771
equivocal1791
vacillating1828
vacillate1830
mammered1842
ambivalent1923
hedgy1928
on-again off-again1946
1828 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I II. v. 132 [The] address..throws a clear and steady light on the vacillating conduct of Charles the First.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iii. 255 Very unwillingly..he was compelled to act his vacillating part to England.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola II. xxi. 268 The vacillating expression of a mind unable to concentrate itself strongly.
3. Of things: (a) varying, changeful; (b) unsteady, swaying.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adjective]
waveringc1540
tilting1606
titubating1653
volatile1654
tittering1661
drunken1786
wavery1820
vacillating1822
joggly1828
yawing1835
teetering1845
wambly1857
pecky1864
drunk1881
teetery1900
wambling1908
1822 M'Arthur in J. M. Good Study Med. II. 147 Pulse quick, generally full and strong; in some cases quick, low, and vacillating.
1823 W. Scott Peveril I. i. 10 Following the vacillating and unhappy fortunes of his master.
1834 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last Days of Pompeii II. iv. v. 272 He..rushed with swift but vacillating steps..down the star-lit streets.
Derivatives
ˈvacillatingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [adverb]
in a waver1519
uncertainly1555
waveringlya1603
irresolutely1617
unresolvedly1621
off and ona1641
hesitantly1660
humdrum1660
irresolvedly1680
undecisively1771
hesitatingly1800
on or upon the waver1806
indecisively1828
vacillatinglya1849
oscillatively1852
hesitatively1881
shakenly1890
a1849 E. A. Poe Marginalia in Wks. (1864) III. 565 He has made successful and frequent incursions, although vacillatingly, into the domain of the true Imagination.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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adj.1814