vacillation
noun
vac·il·la·tion
ˌva-sə-ˈlā-shən 
1
: an act or instance of vacillating
2
: inability to take a stand : irresolution, indecision
Synonyms
Examples of vacillation in a Sentence
the president was soundly criticized for his vacillation before responding to the crisis
Recent Examples on the Web
Espinosa’s Billy Jay is also a huge asset: His vacillation between cornfed, charming-despite-yourself naïveté and furtive, ambitious, even possibly sinister unknowability is—perhaps a little ironically—the play’s most compelling character arc.
—
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 8 May 2024
Indian vacillation will convince U.S. officials that despite their best efforts, New Delhi is either incapable of mustering the requisite political will to build a long-term security partnership with Washington or reluctant to do so.
—Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2023
In many ways, the international community’s inability to stop the escalating violence in Syria is reminiscent of the deadlock and vacillation over intervening in Bosnia in the 1990s.
—Jon Western, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2013
Gray whales seem to have gone through these more dramatic vacillations, enduring three different periods of major mortalities and bouncing back before the most recent five-year event.
—Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
More recent vacillation includes ever-changing advice on masks, a re-evaluation of the lab-leak theory, the confidence-undermining pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and now encouraging alarmism with misleading claims about the number of Delta variant breakthrough cases.
—WSJ, 5 Aug. 2021
The Biden White House’s spineless vacillation only validates the terrible timelessness of that truth.
—The Editors, National Review, 3 Nov. 2023
The big surprise is that China appears to have stepped in to fill the vacuum left by American vacillation in the Middle East.
—David A. Andelman, CNN, 11 Mar. 2023
Her ability to keep her word flow off-balance matched her vacillation between strength and weakness, happiness and sadness, codependence and independence.
—Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2023
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 8 May 2024
Indian vacillation will convince U.S. officials that despite their best efforts, New Delhi is either incapable of mustering the requisite political will to build a long-term security partnership with Washington or reluctant to do so.
—Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs, 20 June 2023
In many ways, the international community’s inability to stop the escalating violence in Syria is reminiscent of the deadlock and vacillation over intervening in Bosnia in the 1990s.
—Jon Western, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2013
Gray whales seem to have gone through these more dramatic vacillations, enduring three different periods of major mortalities and bouncing back before the most recent five-year event.
—Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
More recent vacillation includes ever-changing advice on masks, a re-evaluation of the lab-leak theory, the confidence-undermining pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and now encouraging alarmism with misleading claims about the number of Delta variant breakthrough cases.
—WSJ, 5 Aug. 2021
The Biden White House’s spineless vacillation only validates the terrible timelessness of that truth.
—The Editors, National Review, 3 Nov. 2023
The big surprise is that China appears to have stepped in to fill the vacuum left by American vacillation in the Middle East.
—David A. Andelman, CNN, 11 Mar. 2023
Her ability to keep her word flow off-balance matched her vacillation between strength and weakness, happiness and sadness, codependence and independence.
—Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vacillation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near vacillation
Cite this Entry
“Vacillation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vacillation. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
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