Vacillator

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who consistently struggles to make firm choices displays indecision and frequently alters their stance on issues
2. Someone who repeatedly finds it difficult to commit to a decision and often shifts opinions
3. An individual characterized by constant uncertainty and inability to settle on one option

Etymology: "Vacillator" is a straightforward formation: it takes the verb "vacillate" and adds the agent suffix "-or", which turns an action into the person who performs it, much as "narrator" comes from "narrate" or "navigator" from "navigate." The verb "vacillate" comes from Latin "vacillare," meaning to sway, totter, or waver, as a body or a branch might move back and forth. The original image is physical unsteadiness, and the sense of wavering in opinion grew out of that picture. The suffix "-or" comes from Latin "-or," which was attached to verb stems to name a doer, so the noun carries the sense of someone who habitually sways from one position to another. Its meaning is therefore built directly from the verb, with no separate history of its own.

Synonyms: waffler, fence-sitter, indecisive person, ditherer, oscillator

Antonyms: decider, determiner, committer, resolver, concluder