vacillationn.
/ˌvasᵻˈleɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌvæsəˈleɪʃən/ 1.
a. The action or quality of alternating or wavering in respect of opinion or conduct; hesitation, uncertainty.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [noun]
yea-and-nayc1384
vacillationc1400
titteringa1413
stackeringc1440
wondingc1440
fluctuationc1450
waver1519
mammering1532
uncertainty1548
wavering1548
to and fro1553
suspense1560
staggering1565
suspension1568
mammery1578
demur1581
branle1591
dilly-dally1592
hesitance1601
irresolution1601
uncertainness1601
undecision1611
waveringness1614
hesitancy1617
unsettledness1619
hesitation1622
unresolvednessa1626
doubleness of minda1628
wavinga1628
swagging1636
poise1637
mambling1640
stickagea1647
vacillancy1668
whifflinga1677
hovering1679
unresolve1679
irresoluteness1686
shilly-shally1755
indecisiona1763
undecisiveness1779
indecisiveness1793
oscillation1798
flexility1815
shilly-shallying1842
swaying1850
Hamletism1852
teeter1855
havering1866
off and on1875
dilly-dallying1879
double-mindedness1881
hesitatingness1890
dither1958
c1400 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) iv. xxx. 80 Tho that ben naturelle of the same countre withouten vacillacion wille done theyr deuoyre.
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. i Vacillation, inconstancy, wauering.
a1649 W. Drummond Hist. James III in Wks. (1711) 40 That the Friendship begun might continue without all Vacillation.
1697 G. Burghope Disc. Relig. Assemblies 101 This vacillation of thoughts is in some the consequent of their very constitution.
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1756 I. 168 Christopher Smart, with whose unhappy vacillation of mind he sincerely sympathised.
1828 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I I. iii. 34 In the vacillation of the disputants, victory hung on the subtilty of an argument.
a1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1876) 4th Ser. vii. 49 There is such an indecision, such a vacillation about the man.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §3. 365 Elizabeth..screened her..statesmanship under the natural timidity and vacillation of her sex.
b. An instance of this.
ΚΠ
1828 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I I. v. 116 The agents on both sides were shocked at the vacillations of their own Cabinets.
1879 R. W. Church Spenser 22 When all about her [Elizabeth] were dismayed both at the plan itself and at her vacillations.
2. The action, or an act, of swaying or swinging unsteadily to and fro.Quot. 1633 is a rendering of St. Augustine De Rect. Cath. Conv. §5, where the reading vacillationes is doubtful.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [noun]
yawinga1614
vacillation1633
titubation1643
wambling1680
teetering1845
1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. 27 To prohibit the vse of all diabolicall Enterludes, Vacillations, and songs of the Gentiles.
1635 H. Valentine Foure Sea-serm. 57 The second effect of a tempest is the vacillation, staggering, and trepidation of their bodies.
1713 W. Derham Physico-theol. v. ii. 327 To keep the Body upright, and prevent it's falling, by readily assisting against every Vacillation thereof.
1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xi. 220 The bones of the feet..are put in action by every slip or vacillation of the body, and seem to assist in restoring its balance.
1837 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 42 233 For this cause did the intelligent creature repose (though not indeed without vacillation) on the lower perch.
3. Variation between extremes. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > [noun] > change within limits, variation, or modification
variation1502
diversification1603
flexion1603
divisiona1616
amendment1653
variating1653
sophistication1664
modulation1674
vacillation1769
modification1775
variorum1776
modifyinga1853
tropicalization1893
mod1943
1769 Philos. Trans. 1768 (Royal Soc.) 58 160 We shall then have..the double menstrual parallax, or vacillation, arising from the whole diameter of the epicycle, 14″.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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