Waverers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals characterized by their lack of firmness in making decisions or forming beliefs
2. Persons who alternate between various viewpoints or stances, often without reaching a conclusion
3. Those who have difficulty making firm choices ; persons who often change their beliefs or attitudes

Etymology: "Waverer" is simply the agent noun from "waver," with the "-er" suffix meaning "one who does the action." "Waver" itself is a Middle English word, first recorded in the late 1300s, and its origin lies in the Old Norse "vafra," meaning "to flicker or wander about." The Old Norse root is connected to the idea of moving back and forth or hesitating in motion, which is the physical sense that English later carried into the mental sense of indecision. The shift from motion to mind happened gradually. A wavering flame or a wavering line of soldiers was the original picture, and by the 1400s the word was being used for a person whose resolve or opinion swung back and forth. The plural "wavers" simply pluralizes that agent noun, so "waverers" names a group of people who keep changing their minds or stalling between options.

Synonyms: vacillators, indecisives

Antonyms: decisives, resolvers