as in irresolute
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Dissimilar Words
as in hesitating
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
vacillated for so long that someone else stepped in and made the decision
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vacillating
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Anniek Bao, CNBC, 21 Apr. 2026
Trump has been more active than ever on social media in his second term, including posting lengthy all-caps screeds offering vacillating updates on the war.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 30 Mar. 2026
This hesitation was not the result of vacillating between options in indecision, but an active and regulated brain process to pause before acting due to environmental uncertainty.
—Eric Yttri, The Conversation, 12 Feb. 2026
Virginia Ritter spent most of her of the rest of her life vacillating between empathy and anger for her daughter's killer, all the while serving as a fierce victims' rights advocate in Nashville.
—Brad Schmitt, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Nov. 2025
By the end of March 2018 Aydın seemed unsure whether to try to clear his name or lay low, vacillating between the two strategies.
—Moisés Naím, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
The actress' create a world that engulfs you into their faux-showbusiness drama, a world of women vacillating between supporting each other and backstabbing to get themselves ahead, with striking performances that led to Oscar nominations for Davis, Ritter, Holm and Baxter.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
This is the Alcaraz who is unbeatable, a man who cut out the vacillating streaks in his game that derailed him in Melbourne and Wimbledon.
—Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Verb
The status of further peace talks and other key details of the current relationship between the warring powers have grown increasingly opaque, with Trump vacillating between resuming saber-rattling rhetoric and indicating Washington’s readiness for additional negotiations with Iran.
—Anniek Bao, CNBC, 21 Apr. 2026
Trump has been more active than ever on social media in his second term, including posting lengthy all-caps screeds offering vacillating updates on the war.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 30 Mar. 2026
This hesitation was not the result of vacillating between options in indecision, but an active and regulated brain process to pause before acting due to environmental uncertainty.
—Eric Yttri, The Conversation, 12 Feb. 2026
Virginia Ritter spent most of her of the rest of her life vacillating between empathy and anger for her daughter's killer, all the while serving as a fierce victims' rights advocate in Nashville.
—Brad Schmitt, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Nov. 2025
By the end of March 2018 Aydın seemed unsure whether to try to clear his name or lay low, vacillating between the two strategies.
—Moisés Naím, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
The actress' create a world that engulfs you into their faux-showbusiness drama, a world of women vacillating between supporting each other and backstabbing to get themselves ahead, with striking performances that led to Oscar nominations for Davis, Ritter, Holm and Baxter.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacillating
Adjective
-
Where Trump is unrelenting and single-minded, the justices have been inconsistent and unpredictable, and therefore appear irresolute.—
Noah Feldman,
Twin Cities,
24 Dec. 2025
-
Downtown, in his studio at the corner of White and Cortlandt Alley, on a Thursday evening in late July, Wyeth sat on his stool and considered the irresolute underpainting on his canvas.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Trump has criticized European countries for rejecting or hesitating to get involved in the war with Iran.—
NPR Staff,
NPR,
17 Apr. 2026
-
The Academy seems comfortable celebrating individual excellence within horror while hesitating to crown its films as definitive achievements.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Something that felt uncertain now becomes obvious.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
1 May 2026
-
Whether there's enough support to pass such a measure is uncertain.—
Caitlin Yilek,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Magic played well before faltering down the stretch and had to win an elimination game in the play-in tournament.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 2026
-
In some ways, the pair of them have become symbolic of the hope that this team can rise again after faltering in recent weeks.—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
About one quarter, 26%, remain unsure; that response is unchanged since the youth poll's fall 2025 survey.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Looking unsure and a bit lost, VIPs from the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami straggle into the dim underground garage of a nondescript Little Havana strip mall on a recent Saturday morning.—
Carl Juste,
Miami Herald,
22 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The 2 ¼-inch wedge heel, combined with the ½-inch platform, gives you just enough height to look dressed up without feeling wobbly or unstable.—
Alicia Geigel,
Southern Living,
20 Apr. 2026
-
My figures have two noses, two pairs of wobbly lips and lopsided torsos that often lean precariously to one side.—
Gabe Montesanti,
PEOPLE,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The largest group of voters — 26% — was undecided.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
-
That large number of undecided voters could be partially because a sizable portion of primary voters are not satisfied with the current choice of candidates.—
Anthony Salvanto,
CBS News,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
But these unknown early writings suggest that he may be better understood as an immigrant writer—one of the gifted, ambivalent outsiders who remade American literature after World War II—whose most astonishing achievement was the all-American voice of On the Road and the books that came after.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Apr. 2026
-
The book’s ambivalent nostalgia has not kept it from succeeding prodigiously.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Vacillating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacillating. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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