indecisive
/ɪndɪˈsʌɪsɪv
/adjective
1Not providing a clear and definite result: an indecisive battle...
- If the result remains indecisive, the coalition still loses.
- In May 2005 a campaign that never caught fire issued, perhaps inevitably, in a curiously indecisive result.
- The Sri Lankan election held last Friday has resulted in an indecisive outcome that can only lead to further political volatility.
Synonyms
inconclusive, proving nothing, settling nothing, open, indeterminate, undecided, unsettled, borderline, indefinite, unclear, ambiguous, contradictory, ambivalent, conflicting, confusing, two-edged, double-edged, paradoxical
informal up in the air
2(Of a person) not able to make decisions quickly and effectively: he was too indecisive to carry out his political programme...
- He was a poor administrator, he was indecisive, and he seemed unable to make hard decisions.
- People may say you are too indecisive, but it's only because you want to do what's right.
- The Celtic manager is the first to confess he is indecisive when it comes to signings, and he has a habit of holding off until the last gasp before committing to player recruitment.
Synonyms
irresolute, hesitant, tentative, weak;
vacillating, equivocating, dithering, wavering, teetering, fluctuating, faltering, shilly-shallying;
ambivalent, divided, in two minds, in a dilemma, in a quandary, torn;
doubtful, unsure, uncertain;
undecided, uncommitted, unresolved, undetermined
informal iffy, blowing hot and cold, sitting on the fence
Derivatives
indecisively
/ adverb ...- And they may feel obliged to take firm decision, quickly, to demonstrate to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister that they are not evading their responsibilities or acting indecisively.
- The worst thing that could happen would be for it to end indecisively, with embittered semi-losers on all sides.
- He consulted a supervisor, who stared at me indecisively for a few minutes.
indecisiveness
/ noun ...- It was just a feeling, neither uncertainty nor indecisiveness, but doubts nonetheless.
- And with domestic political pressure building, indecisiveness and delay only increase frustration.
- I am over his uncertainties, his indecisiveness and the fact that he spent much of our relationship unsure of whether he wanted to be with me anyway.
- well-metalled
- well-mettled
- well-minded
- well-mingled
- well-mixed
- well-modeled
- well-modelled
- well-modulated
- well-moneyed
- well-moralized
- well-motivated
- well-motived
- well-moulded
- well-mounted
- well-mouthed
- well-named
- well-natured
- well-near
- wellness
- well-nigh
- well-nosed
- well-noted
- well-nourished
- well-nurtured
- well-oared