as in weaseled
to avoid giving a definite answer or position
she waffled when asked what she thought of her sister's new boyfriend
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Recent Examples of waffled
For one, action bias is not always bad — sometimes things genuinely need to get done, not waffled over.
—
Aiko Bethea, Big Think, 22 Apr. 2026
During that stretch, Davis has waffled between hopeless and hopeful on a weekly basis.
—Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026
In January, Meta fired 10 percent of the Reality Labs unit, or about 1,500 employees, and this month waffled on shutting the whole thing down.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 26 Mar. 2026
Dietary recommendations have waffled over time.
—Tania Fabo, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
Paterno waffled before deciding to stay in State College.
—Mike Sando, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2026
But state lawmakers, facing their own deficit, have waffled over continuing the initiative.
—Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Aug. 2025
Aiko Bethea, Big Think, 22 Apr. 2026
During that stretch, Davis has waffled between hopeless and hopeful on a weekly basis.
—Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026
In January, Meta fired 10 percent of the Reality Labs unit, or about 1,500 employees, and this month waffled on shutting the whole thing down.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 26 Mar. 2026
Dietary recommendations have waffled over time.
—Tania Fabo, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
Paterno waffled before deciding to stay in State College.
—Mike Sando, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2026
But state lawmakers, facing their own deficit, have waffled over continuing the initiative.
—Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waffled
Verb
-
Minutes into the execution, the team warden briefly flicked Hitchcock‘s face and yelled his name twice and shook his shoulders.—
Jeffrey Collins,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Bukele shook off his delusions of being the emperor of social media and abandoned his bullying tactics in the face of the biggest bully.—
Óscar Martínez,
The Dial,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The White House has reportedly equivocated its support of Means in recent weeks.—
Dan Vergano,
Scientific American,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Brooks, for his part, equivocated … A bout of frantic rebranding ensued.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Waffled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waffled. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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