ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsVvacillate

ISEE/SSAThard

vacillate

verbISEE/SSAT hard word/ˈvæs.ə.leɪt/

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:

Where it comes from

From Latin vacillare 'to sway'

Memory hook

VACILLATE — wobbles VACILL-back-forth.

Practice vacillate in the app

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