Temporizer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who puts off decisions or action to gain time ; someone who adjusts their behavior or opinions to suit existing conditions
2. Someone who procrastinates or uses delaying tactics ; a person who changes their approach based on what the moment demands
3. A person who postpones commitment or resolution ; an individual who shifts their stance to accommodate prevailing circumstances

Etymology: The verb "temporize" came first, and the agent suffix "-er" was added to it in English. "Temporize" itself comes from the Latin "tempus" (time) and the Medieval Latin verb formation "temporizare," meaning to be guided by the times or to delay in order to suit circumstances. The idea underneath is accommodation: a person who waits and yields to the moment rather than acting on principle. The suffix has a longer ancestry than the verb. The "-er" ending traces back through Middle English and Old English forms to Latin "-arius," which passed into Old French as "-ier" before reaching English. In other words, the ending reached English twice, once through the Anglo-Saxon line and once through French, and the two streams merged into the single "-er" that English uses for agent nouns today. The result is a word for someone who plays for time. A temporizer is a person who avoids committing to a course of action, stalling until circumstances shift in their favour.

Synonyms: procrastinator, delayer, staller, time-waster

Antonyms: decisive person, go-getter