vacillates

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Once he settles on the sofa beside me, McKellen vacillates between performative storytelling and genuine reflection.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

It is closer to music than epic, a mesmerizing suite of songs that conveys Tennyson’s private sorrow as he vacillates from unbearable agony to precarious hope.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Peake’s staid and knowing portrayal stands in contrast and complement to that of Petticrew, whose resolute manner vacillates between a flinty swagger and true anguish.

From Salon • Nov. 14, 2024

“He vacillates between being very intense and focused about his work and just really silly and fun,” Diarra Kilpatrick, who plays Paul’s wife, Clara, said in a video interview.

From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2023

Before the final accomplishment of any great voluntary change the mind vacillates, now soothing itself by fervent expectation, now recoiling from obstacles which seem never to have presented themselves before with so frightful an aspect.

From The Last Man by Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft