Vacillating is what Katy Perry is complaining about in "Hot N Cold:"

   "You're hot, then you're cold,
   You're yes, then you're no,
   You're in, then you're out,
   You're up, then you're down."

Same deal with Alicia Keys in "Fallin:"

   "I keep on falling in and out of love with you
   Sometimes I love ya, sometimes you make me blue.
   Sometimes I feel good, at times I feel used.
   Loving you, darling, makes me so confused."

Same deal with Olivia Rodrigo in "Get Him Back:"

   "I wanna key his car.
   I wanna make him lunch.
   I wanna break his heart,
   Stitch it right back up.
   I wanna kiss his face...
   With an uppercut.
   I wanna meet his mom...
   And tell her her son sucks."

All three artists are singing about wavering, indecision, back-and-forth, seesawing, w____ing ("switching back and forth on something instead of settling firmly on it"), irr___lution ("lack of settling on a choice")—that is, vacillation.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)   

In Latin, vacillare means "to stagger, to totter, or to sway to and fro." It entered English in the late 1500s.

To vacillate between two different things is to go back and forth between them.

And more generally, to vacillate is to move up and down or move back and forth, or to keep changing your mind or keep having doubts about what you should be thinking, feeling, or doing.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, the intransitive kind: "I vacillated, not sure what to do;" "The song's tempo vacillates between fast and slow."

Other forms: 

The other verb forms are "vacillated" and "vacillating."

And the noun is "vacillation."

If you need an adjective, you can pick between "vacillating" and "vacillatory."

how to use it:

"Vacillate" is a formal, semi-common word. It has a slightly negative tone.

We talk about people vacillating between two feelings or desires or goals, or between two courses of action.

It doesn't have to be people who vacillate; it can be things. Music can vacillate between two moods or sounds, for example, or an industry or economy can vacillate between periods of boom and bust.

examples:

"Josie seems perpetually lacerated with impatience and self-doubt, vacillating between a restless urge to keep moving and a weariness with life on the road."
 — Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 17 July 2016

"The play vacillates between the riveting and the random – and the result can frustrate as often as it intrigues."
   — F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times, 30 April 2015

has this page helped you understand "vacillate"?

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Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "vacillate" without saying "hesitate" or "go back and forth."

try it out:

In his autobiography, Nelson Mandela noted: "Life has a way of forcing decisions on those who vacillate."

Talk about what he means. Could you give an example from your own life about a time you vacillated, then were forced into a decision?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "That's Not a Thing, That's Two Things."

I describe it; you name it! For example, if I give you "It's that thing where Steve Harvey hosts two groups competing as vassals in medieval Europe," then you give me "Family Feudalism." To see the answer, scroll to the bottom.

Try this today:

It's that thing where you ask OpenAI's chatbot for ideas to improve your relationship with alcohol, but it refuses to give you any options beside total abstinence.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of VACILLATE is

A. WALK THE WALK.
B. STAY THE COURSE.
C. BEAT AROUND THE BUSH.

2. In a review for the New York Times, Alissa Wilkinson notes how a director underlines "the vacillating feelings [the characters] can't acknowledge outright" by "_____."

A. [including] lyrical songs with great swelling orchestral harmonies
B. [showing their faces] slip into mask-like panic, with eyes that are dead
C. [modulating] the lighting during the scenes from cool to warm and back again

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. C From the game: That's ChatGPTeetotaling (or ChatGPTeetotalism).

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.