Waver

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈweɪvə/

Definitions

1. To oscillate in both pitch and stability while displaying uncertainty in decision-making and moving irregularly from one side to another
2. To alternate between different intensities or directions while demonstrating hesitation regarding choices and moving unevenly back and forth
3. To shift or sway unevenly, lacking firm stability ; to show doubt or uncertainty in making a decision or choice

Etymology: The verb "waver" carries a meaning of indecision that its physical roots hardly suggest. Its ancestry runs back to Middle English "waveren," which meant to move back and forth, swing, totter, or tremble. Figurative senses of unsteadiness and changeability grew from those literal motions, so a mind that swung between options came to be described in the same terms as a swaying branch. The word's closest relative is "wave." Both trace to a Proto-Germanic verb meaning "to weave," which itself goes back to an Indo-European root for braiding. Scholars disagree about which Old English or Old Norse verb fed into "waver," since its early spellings, such as "waiver" and "weaver," suggest a source distinct from "wave." One suggested link, to the obsolete "waive" meaning to disregard, is probably wrong on the evidence of those early forms.

Synonyms: hesitate, fluctuate, vacillate, oscillate, dither

Antonyms: decide, persist, resolve, confirm, settle