indetermination, undetermination†; unsettlement; uncertainty &c 475;
demur, suspense; hesitating &c v., hesitation, hesitancy; vacillation;
changeableness &c 149; fluctuation; alternation &c (oscillation) 314;
caprice &c 608.
fickleness, levity, legerete [Fr.]; pliancy &c (softness) 324;
weakness; timidity &c 860; cowardice &c 862; half measures.
waverer, ass between two bundles of hay; shuttlecock, butterfly;
wimp; doughface [U.S.].
V. be irresolute &c adj.; hang in suspense, keep in suspense; leave "ad
referendum"; think twice about, pause; dawdle &c (inactivity) 683;
remain neuter; dillydally, hesitate, boggle, hover, dacker†, hum and
haw, demur, not know one's own mind; debate, balance; dally with,
coquet with; will and will not, chaser-balancer†; go halfway,
compromise, make a compromise; be thrown off one's balance, stagger
like a drunken man; be afraid &c 860; let 'I dare not' wait upon 'I
would' [Macbeth]; falter, waver vacillate &c 149; change &c 140;
retract &c 607; fluctuate; pendulate†; alternate &c (oscillate) 314;
keep off and on, play fast and loose; blow hot and cold &c (caprice)
608.
shuffle, palter, blink; trim.
Adj. irresolute, infirm of purpose, double-minded, half-hearted;
undecided, unresolved, undetermined; shilly-shally; fidgety, tremulous;
hesitating &c v.; off one's balance; at a loss &c (uncertain) 475.
vacillating &c v.; unsteady &c (changeable) 149; unsteadfast†,
fickle, without ballast; capricious &c 608; volatile, frothy; light,
lightsome, light-minded; giddy; fast and loose.
weak, feeble-minded, frail; timid, wimpish, wimpy &c 860; cowardly
&c 862; dough-faced [U.S.]; facile; pliant &c (soft) 324; unable to say
'no', easy-going revocable, reversible.
Adv. irresolutely &c adj.; irresolved†, irresolvedly†; in faltering
accents; off and on; from pillar to post; seesaw &c 314.
Int. how happy could I be with either! [Gay].