Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Wavering |
WaveringAdjective1. Uncertain in purpose or action. Noun1. Indecision in speech or action. 2. The quality of being unsteady and subject to fluctuations; "he kept a record of price fluctuations". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "wavering" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Synonyms: WaveringSynonyms: vacillant (adj), vacillating (adj), fluctuation (n), hesitation (n), vacillation (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Changeableness | Unstaid, inconstant; unsteady, unstable, unfixed, unsettled; fluctuating; Verb: restless; agitated; erratic, fickle; irresolute; capricious; touch and go; inconsonant, fitful, spasmodic; vibratory; vagrant, wayward; desultory; afloat; alternating; alterable, plastic, mobile; transient; wavering. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Wavering |
| English words defined with "wavering": Fluctuant ♦ Totly ♦ Vacillancy, Vacillatory ♦ Waveringly, Waveringness, Weak. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "wavering": Commonwealth ♦ HAVY CAVY, Hieroglyphs. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "wavering": Vacillancy. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Wavering tone. | | A rapid vibrato wavering tone produced on a flute-like instrument. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Euripides | The wavering mind is but a base possession. |
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe | You accuse a woman of wavering affections, but don't blame her; she is just looking for a consistent man. |
Virgil | The wavering multitude is divided into opposite factions. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | His manners, however, must have been unmarked, wavering, dubious, or she could not have been so misled |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | His soft, wavering, disjointed, diseased, deformed ideas, attached themselves to Enjolras as to a backbone |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | Swaziland | The past few years have seen wavering economic growth which has been exacerbated by the economy's inability to create new jobs at the same rate that new job seekers enter the market. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | COMMONWEALTH, n. An administrative entity operated by an incalculable multitude of political parasites, logically active but fortuitously efficient. This commonwealth's capitol's corridors view, So thronged with a hungry and indolent crew Of clerks, pages, porters and all attaches Whom rascals appoint and the populace pays That a cat cannot slip through the thicket of shins Nor hear its own shriek for the noise of their chins. On clerks and on pages, and porters, and all, Misfortune attend and disaster befall! May life be to them a succession of hurts; May fleas by the bushel inhabit their shirts; May aches and diseases encamp in their bones, Their lungs full of tubercles, bladders of stones; May microbes, bacilli, their tissues infest, And tapeworms securely their bowels digest; May corn-cobs be snared without hope in their hair, And frequent impalement their pleasure impair. Disturbed be their dreams by the awful discourse Of audible sofas sepulchrally hoarse, By chairs acrobatic and wavering floors -- The mattress that kicks and the pillow that snores! Sons of cupidity, cradled in sin! Your criminal ranks may the death angel thin, Avenging the friend whom I couldn't work in. K.Q. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Wavering" is generally used as a lexical verb (-ing form) -- approximately 65.59% of the time. "Wavering" is used about 93 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 65.59% | 61 | 43,149 |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 33.33% | 31 | 62,296 |
| Noun (singular) | 1.08% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 93 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Language | Translations for "wavering"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | lëkundje (backlash, dancing, fluctuation, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, jarring, jolting, nutation, oscillation, pitch, quake, reel, rolling, shake, shaking, shilly shally, shimmy, stagger, sway, swing, swinging, teeter, thrill, tossing, tremor, vacillation, vibrancy, vibration, wabble, wobble), i lëkundshëm (hesitating, jumpy, rocky, shaky, unstable, unsteady, vacillating), hezitim (hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation). (various references) | |
Arabic | متمايل (reeling, swinging, tottering), متهدج (quavering), متقلب (capricious, changeable, changeful, choppy, fickle, flighty, fluctuant, fluky, freakish, incalculable, inconsistent, inconstant, jumpy, mercurial, mobile, moody, mutable, reversible, rough and tumble, shaky, skittish, temperamental, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, variable, versatile, volatile, wayward, weather vane, whimsical, yeasty), متذبذب (oscillatory, pendulous, vacillating, wobbling), متردد (ambivalent, chary, double-minded, doubtful, dubious, faint-hearted, faltering, flickering, haunting, hesitant, hesitating, indecisive, infirm, irresolute, remittent, stammerer, tentative, timid, uncertain, undecided, unsettled, vacillating). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | трептящ (thrilling, trembling, vibrant, vibratory), трепкащ, треперещ (niddle-noddle, quaking, shaking, shaky, shivery, trembling, trembly, tremulous, vibrant), колебание (demur, dubiety, falter, faltering, fluctuation, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, hovel, indecision, oscillation, qualm, quandary, scruple, vacillation, variation, wabble, wobble), колеблив (backward, doubtful, dubious, faltering, fitful, halting, hesitant, hesitating, infirm, irresolute, labile, pendulous, queasy, rickety, rocky, tardy, tentative, vacillating, versatile, wobbly, yo-yo), нерешителност (diffidence, hesitation, indecision, irresolution, shilly shally). (various references) | |
Chinese | 摇摆 (Pendulous, stagger, Staggered, staggering, Swayed, swaying, swing, swinging, Swung, Wag, Wagged, Wagging, Waver, Wavered, wiggling). (various references) | |
Czech | kolísavý (erratic, fluctuating, jumpy, unstable). (various references) | |
Dutch | hapering (hesitation), geweifel (hesitation), aarzeling (hesitation). (various references) | |
Esperanto | hezitado (hesitation). (various references) | |
Finnish | horjuva (failing, tottering, uncertain, undecided, unstable, unsteady), häilyvä (faltering, fickle, inconstant), epäröivä (doubtful, hesitating, irresolute, undecided), epäröiminen (hesitancy, hesitation, indecision, indetermination). (various references) | |
French | ondulations du son, chancelant, cran (wave), flottement, hésitant, hésitation (waver), indécision, irrésolution, .f.,pl., ondulation (wave, waved line), variations rapides de volume du son, oscillant, oscillation, tremblant, tremblement, vacillant (wavy), vacillement, vacilliantatoire, ondoyant (waft). (various references) | |
German | wankend (staggering, tottering), schwankend (dizzily, faltering, fickle, firmless, fluctuating, hesitant, oscillating, pitching, rocking, rolling, seesawing, shakily, shaking, staggering, swaying, toddling, tottering, uncertain, uneven, unstable, unsteady, vacillating, varying, wobbling), Lautstärke-Schwankungen. (various references) | |
Greek | που αμφιταλαντεύεται, διστάζων (hesitant, shilly-sally, waverer). (various references) | |
Hebrew | פסיח" (missing out, omitting, passing over, skipping over, slipping), פסח ות (hesitancy, vacillation). (various references) | |
Hungarian | reszketés (palpitation, quaver, quiver, shaking, shiver, shudder, shuddering, tremble, trembling, tremor, trepidancy, trepidation, trepidity), remegõ (aflutter, aspen, quaking, shaking, trembling, trembly, tremulant, tremulous), ingadozó (choppy, fickle, infirm, irresolute, shilly shally, unequable, vacillating, wobbling, wobbly), hullámzó (billowy, surging, undulating, undulatory). (various references) | |
Italian | vacilncnve. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 浮き腰 (unsteady), 気迷い (hesitating). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | きまよい (hesitating), うき"し (unsteady). (various references) | |
Manx | tuittym (abate, befall, cadence, cadence of voice, calming, collapse, come off, crumple, decline, depreciate; abatement, depreciation, descend, die down, droop, drop fall, fall off, fall out, fall over, falling, falter, flounder, floundering, founder, go down, incidence, keel over, lapse, overbalance, sag, slump, subside, subsidence, tip over, topple, tumble, waver, waver of courage), teaymagh (capricious, fickle, fitful, freakish, humoursome, moody, notional, spasmodic, whimsical), loaganagh (groping, rocking, rocky place, staggerer, staggering, staggery), leaystagh (hesitant, nodding, oscillatory, reeling, rocking, swinging, vibrant, waddling), kirkinagh (fluctuate, fluctuating, inconstant, waverer), jannoo kirkinys (waver, waver of person), craagh (shaky), anshickyrys (insecurity), anshickyr (insecure, loose). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | averingway.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vacilante (faltering, fitful, flickering, floating, limp, rickety, shaky, shilly-shally, tipsy, trembling, vacillating, wobbly, wonky), vacilação (boggle, falter, flicker, shilly-shally, vacillation), titubeante (tottering, tottery), oscilante (crank, flickering, floating, libratory, oscillatory, pendulous, swinging, unstable, vacillating, waggly, wobbly), irresoluto (double-minded, half-hearted, hesitant, indecisive, infirm, irresolute, shilly-shally, undecided, undetermined, unready, unresolved, unsettled, unsolved, unsteady, up in the air, vacillating, weak-kneed), irresolução (demur, irresolution, shilly-shally), indeciso (blear, double-minded, doubtful, drawn, feckless, fitful, half-hearted, halting, indecisive, indeterminate, irresolute, lacklustre, pendant, pendent, pending, shilly-shally, suspended, undecided, undetermined, unresolved, unsettled, unsolved, unsteady, up in the air, vacillating, vague), hesitante (deliberate, diffident, double-minded, doubting, dubious, faltering, fumbling, half-hearted, halting, hesitant, indecisive, irresolute, limp, perplexed, reluctant, undecided, unresolved, unsteady, vacillating, wobbly), hesitação (backwardness, boggle, doubt, flinch, hesitation, perplexity, scruple, shilly-shally, teeter, wabble, waver, wobble), flutuação (float, floatage, floatation, flotation, fluctuation, waft). (various references) | |
Romanian | versatil (fickle), oscilaţie (fluctuation, hesitation, oscillation, pendulation, swinging, vacillation, variation, vibration), ezitare (demur, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, hover, indecision, pause, poise, stagger, stumble, vacillation, wobble), ezitant (halting, hesitating, oscillatory, reluctant, shilly shally, vacillating), dubiu (dubiety, hesitation, uncertainty), codealã (hesitation), cârmealã (dawdling, hesitation, shuffling, turn), şovãitor (at pause, doubtful, dubious, faltering, flexuous, halting, hesitant, hesitating, hesitatingly, irresolute, reluctant, shilly shally, tremulous, uncertain, undecided, waveringly), şovãire (chops and changes, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, irresolution, stagger, stumble), şovãielnic (backward, hesitating, irresolute, undecided), şovãialã (hesitation, indecision, indetermination, pause, shilly shally, ticklishness, vacillation), îndoit (bent, creasy, crooked, double, doubly, hesitating, twice, twofold), îndoialã (discredit, doubt, hesitation, incertitude, misgiving, peradventure, quandary, question, vacillation). (various references) | |
Russian | неустойчивый (astable, changeable, dicky, erratic, grog, groggy, inconstant, infirm, labile, ramshackle, top heavy, topheavy, unballasted, unequable, unstable, unsteady, waggly, yielding), нерешительность неустойчивый, нерешительность (backing and filling, hesitancy, hesitation, indecision, irresolution, shilly shally). (various references) | |
Scottish | loinneas (a wavering). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | treperav (lambent, pulsatory, trembling, trembly, tremulous, vibrant), neodlučan (ambivalent, half hearted, halfhearted, hesitant, hesitative, indecisive, irresolute, lackadaisical, undecided, undecisive, weak-minded, wishy washy), kolebljiv (halting, sensitive, shilly shally, staggering, vacillating, wabbly, wishy washy), kolebanje (staggering, swag, vacillation). (various references) | |
Spanish | vacilación (boggle, dillydallying, flickering, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, oscillation, vacillation), duda (doubt, doubts, hesitation, if, misgiving, niggle, qualm, query). (various references) | |
Swedish | vacklan (fluctuation, vacillation, wobble). (various references) | |
Turkish | yalpalayan (groggy, tottery), titreyen (atremble, quaking, shaking, thrilling, trembling, tremulous, wavy), titrek (doddering, doddery, faltering, flickering, plangent, quavery, shaking, shaky, shivery, tipsy, trembling, tremulous, wavy, wobbly), titreşen (flickering, oscillating, pulsating, vibrant, vibrating, vibratory, wavy), tereddüd eden (vacillating), sallanan (pendulous, rocking, rocky, shaking, swinging, tipsy, unsteady, vacillating, wobbly), bocalayan (fluctuating, vacillating). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | вагання (boggle, demur, embarrassment, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitation, oscillation, poise, waver). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | rung rinh (dancing, tremulous), lưỡng lự; dao động, do dự (double-minded, dubitative, hesitant, hesitatingly, hesitative, indecisive, indeterminate, irresolute, shilly-shally, suspensive, undecided, undecisive, undetermined, unsettled). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | ambigua, ambiguum, dubitatione, hesito (haesito). (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Hebrews Chapter 10, Verse 23 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Katecwmen thn omologian thV elpidoV aklinh pistoV gar o epaggeilamenoV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Teneamus spei nostrae confessionem indeclinabilem fidelis enim est qui repromisit |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And holde we the confessioun of oure hope, bowinge to no side; for he is trewe that hath made the biheeste. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And let vs kepe the profession of oure hope with oute waveringe (for he is faythfull that promysed) |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised: |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Let us keep the witness of our hope strong and unshaking, for he is true who has given his word: |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Hebrews Chapter 10, Verse 23 |
| Cebuano | Sa walay pag-ukon-ukon, pangusgan ta pagkupot ang paglaum sa atong tinoohan, kay kasaligan siya nga misaad kanato; |
| Croatian | Èuvajmo nepokolebljivu vjeru nade jer je vjeran Onaj koji dade obeæanje. |
| Danish | lader os fastholde Håbets Bekendelse urokket; thi trofast er han, som gav Forjættelsen; |
| Finnish | pysykäämme järkähtämättä toivon tunnustuksessa, sillä hän, joka antoi lupauksen, on uskollinen; |
| French | Retenons fermement la profession de notre espérance, car celui qui a fait la promesse est fidèle. |
| German | und lasset uns halten an dem Bekenntnis der Hoffnung und nicht wanken; denn er ist treu, der sie verheißen hat; |
| Haitian Creole | Ann kenbe espwa nou genyen an byen fèm. Paske, nou mèt sèten, Bondye ap kenbe pwomès li. |
| Hungarian | És testök meg van mosva tiszta vízzel; tartsuk meg a reménységnek vallását tántoríthatatlanul, mert hû az, a ki ígéretet tett, |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Hendaklah kita berpegang teguh pada harapan yang kita akui, sebab Allah bisa dipercayai dan Ia akan menepati janji-Nya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | maka biarlah kita berpegang tetap atas pengakuan harap kita dengan tiada menaruh bimbang, karena Yang berjanji itu setia, |
| Italian | Manteniamo senza vacillare la professione della nostra speranza, perché è fedele colui che ha promesso. |
| Maori | Kia mau ta tatou whakaae ki te mea e tumanakohia atu nei, kei ngaueue; he pono hoki ta te kaiwhakaari mai; |
| Norwegian | la oss holde uryggelig fast ved bekjennelsen av vårt håp - for han er trofast som gav løftet - |
| Portuguese | retenhamos inabalável a confissão da nossa esperança, porque fiel é aquele que fez a promessa; |
| Rumanian | Sq yinem fqrq wovqire la mqrturisirea nqdejdii noastre, cqci credincios este Cel ce a fqcut fqgqduinya. |
| Russian | 'Х"ЕН "ЕТЦБФШУС ЙУ ПЧЕ"БОЙС Х ПЧБОЙС ОЕХЛМПООП, Й'П ЧЕТЕО п'ЕЭБЧЫЙК. |
| Shuar | Yus tsankatramkattajnia nu shiir Enentáimtamu iniaitsuk kakaram ajasar tuke emetatniuitji. Yus tsankatramkaitji nuna umiktatui. |
| Swahili | Tushikilie imara tumaini lile tunalokiri, maana Mungu aliyefanya ahadi zake ni mwaminifu. |
| Swedish | Låtom oss oryggligt hålla fast vid hoppets bekännelse, ty den som har givit oss löftet, han är trofast. |
| Uma | Neo' tabahakai ncarumaka Yesus, tapangaku' kahi'a-na Pue' -ta, apa' Alata'ala mpopadupa' oa' janci-na hi kita'. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "wavering": waveringly. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "wavering": unwavering. (additional references) | |
Words containing "wavering": unwaveringly. (additional references) | |
| |
"Wavering" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Gavurin, Javeriana, navarin, Navarino, Pavarini, waivering, Wakering, waveding, waveing, waveings. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "wavering" (pronounced wā"vering) |
| 6 | w ā" v er i ng | unwavering. |
| 5 | -ā" v er i ng | disfavoring, favoring, flavoring, savoring. |
| 4 | -v er i ng | covering, delivering, discovering, endeavoring, hovering, levering, maneuvering, quivering, recovering, rediscovering, severing, shivering, uncovering. |
| 3 | -er i ng | answering, administering, altering, anchoring, angering, auguring, backfiring, badgering, bantering, bartering, battering, belaboring, beleaguering, bettering, bewildering, bickering, blistering, blundering, blustering, bolstering, bordering, bothering, brokering, butchering, capturing, catering, censoring, centering, chartering, chattering, clamoring, clobbering, clustering, cluttering, coloring, configuring, conjuring, conquering, considering, cornering, countering, cowering, culturing, deciphering, desiring, devouring, diapering, dickering, differing, disfiguring, dismembering, dithering, doctoring, doddering, embroidering, empowering, encountering, endangering, entering, factoring, faltering, fathering, feathering, featuring, festering, figuring, filibustering, filtering, fingering, flattering, flickering, floundering, flowering, fluttering, fostering, foundering, fracturing, frittering, furthering, garnering, gathering, gerrymandering, gesturing, glimmering, glittering, glowering, grandfathering, guttering, hammering, hampering, hankering, harboring, hectoring, hindering, hollering, honoring, hungering, hunkering, injuring, inquiring, laboring, laundering, lawyering, layering, lecturing, lettering, lingering, littering, loitering, lowering, lumbering, majoring, manufacturing, massacring, mastering, maundering, meandering, measuring, mentoring, metering, minoring, mirroring, mitering, mongering, monitoring, mothering, motoring, murdering, murmuring, mustering, muttering, nattering, neighboring, neutering, nonmanufacturing, numbering, nurturing, offering, ordering, outnumbering, pampering, pandering, papering, partnering, peppering, perjuring, pestering, petering, philandering, picturing, pilfering, plastering, plundering, pondering, posturing, powdering, powering, pressuring, proffering, prospering, puncturing, puttering, recapturing, reconsidering, reentering, registering, rejiggering, remembering, rendering, reoffering, reordering, requiring, restructuring, rewiring, rupturing, scampering, scattering, scouring, sculpturing, sequestering, shattering, sheltering, shimmering, shouldering, showering, shuddering, shuttering, simmering, slaughtering, slithering, slobbering, slumbering, smattering, smoldering, smothering, snickering, sobering, soldering, soldiering, souring, spattering, spiering, splintering, sponsoring, sputtering, squandering, staggering, structuring, stuttering, suffering, surrendering, swaggering, sweltering, tailoring, tampering, tapering, teetering, tempering, tendering, thundering, tinkering, torturing, tottering, towering, transpiring, triggering, tutoring, unflattering, ushering, uttering, venturing, wagering, wallpapering, wandering, warmongering, watering, weathering, whimpering, whispering, withering, wondering, Wuthering, zippering. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-e-g-i-n-r-v-w" | |
-1 letter: reaving, vinegar, wearing, weaving. | |
-2 letters: aweing, earing, earwig, gainer, gnawer, graven, naiver, ravine, raving, reagin, regain, regina, rivage, vainer, waiver, wanier, waring, wavier, waving, winger, wivern. | |
-3 letters: aiver, anger, awing, ganev, garni, given, giver, grain, grave, invar, naevi, naive, range, raven, ravin, rawin, regna, reign, renig, rewan, rewin, riven, vegan, virga, wager, waive. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-e-g-i-n-r-v-w" | |
+1 letter: overawing, reavowing, reweaving. | |
+2 letters: unwavering, waveringly. | |
+3 letters: overdrawing, overwarming, overwearing. | |
+4 letters: interweaving, overwatering, unwaveringly. | |
+5 letters: overshadowing. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Sounds 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Bible Trace | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
