vacillate

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Therefore I am glad of an opportunity of destroying her You are a very ruthless woman When I have an end in view, I march straight to it; I do not vacillate--that is all.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. intransitive verb To sway from one side to the other; oscillate.
  2. intransitive verb To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another. See Synonyms at hesitate.

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This word has been looked up 347 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same contextWord Family

vacillate:   vacillated
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin vacillāre, vacillāt-, to waver.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin vacillatus, past participle of vacillare (later Italian vacillare = Portuguese vacillar = Spanish vacilar = French vaciller), sway to and fro, vacillate; a diminutive or freq. form, prob. akin to Sanskritvank, go tortuously, be crooked, vakra, bent: see wag.
 

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/ˈvæsɪleɪt/
by American Heritage

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