ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsVvacillate
ISEE/SSAThard
vacillate
Meaning: to waver between options
vacillate in a sentence
How vacillate is used in real sentences:
He vacillated between two job offers.
He vacillated between two job offers.
“For several minutes, Elias vacillated between trusting his instruments and trusting memory, until a patrol launch ordered him toward an unfamiliar pier.”
— from the passage The Altered Shore
“Prime Minister Harcourt urged his allies not to vacillate between a limited compromise and meaningful reform, warning that hesitation would embolden both reactionaries and revolutionaries.”
— from the passage Seven Votes at Dawn
“His answers were precise until she mentioned the old well; then he began to vacillate, first insisting he never drank from it, then admitting that he brewed tea with its water whenever the pump froze.”
— from the passage The Clockmaker's Fever
Synonyms for vacillate
Other words for vacillate — waver, oscillate and fluctuate — carry the same meaning.
Antonyms of vacillate
Words that mean the opposite of vacillate:
- decide
- resolve
Where it comes from
From Latin vacillare 'to sway'
Memory hook
VACILLATE — wobbles VACILL-back-forth.