Meaning
waver, totter, stagger
- to sway, totter, or lose balance physically
- to waver or hesitate mentally; to begin to falter
In a sentence
L'uomo ha vacillato per un istante prima di cadere a terra.
The man tottered for a moment before falling to the ground.
Le sue certezze hanno cominciato a vacillare dopo quella scoperta.
His certainties began to waver after that discovery.
Nonostante la crisi economica, la fiducia degli investitori non vacilla.
Despite the economic crisis, investors' confidence does not waver.
Word forms (48)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| vacillare | infinitive |
| vacillo | indicative · present · singular · 1st person |
| vacilli | indicative · present · singular · 2nd person |
| vacilla | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| vacilliamo | indicative · present · plural · 1st person |
| vacillate | indicative · present · plural · 2nd person |
| vacillano | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| vacillavo | indicative · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| vacillavi | indicative · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| vacillava | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| vacillavamo | indicative · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| vacillavate | indicative · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| vacillavano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| vacillai | indicative · past · singular · 1st person |
| vacillasti | indicative · past · singular · 2nd person |
| vacillò | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| vacillammo | indicative · past · plural · 1st person |
| vacillaste | indicative · past · plural · 2nd person |
| vacillarono | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| vacillerò | indicative · future · singular · 1st person |
| vacillerai | indicative · future · singular · 2nd person |
| vacillerà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| vacilleremo | indicative · future · plural · 1st person |
| vacillerete | indicative · future · plural · 2nd person |
| vacilleranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| vacilli | subjunctive · present · singular · 1st person |
| vacilli | subjunctive · present · singular · 2nd person |
| vacilli | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| vacilliamo | subjunctive · present · plural · 1st person |
| vacilliate | subjunctive · present · plural · 2nd person |
| vacillino | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| vacillassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| vacillassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| vacillasse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| vacillassimo | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| vacillaste | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| vacillassero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| vacillerei | conditional · present · singular · 1st person |
| vacilleresti | conditional · present · singular · 2nd person |
| vacillerebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| vacilleremmo | conditional · present · plural · 1st person |
| vacillereste | conditional · present · plural · 2nd person |
| vacillerebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| vacilla | imperative · singular · 2nd person |
| vacilliamo | imperative · plural · 1st person |
| vacillate | imperative · plural · 2nd person |
| vacillando | gerund |
| vacillato | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Takes 'avere' in compound tenses.
- Can describe physical instability (a building, a person) or abstract certainty (faith, convictions).