vacillation
/væsɪˈleɪʃən/noun
vacillation is spelled V-A-C-I-L-L-A-T-I-O-N: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, vacillation means “Indecision in speech or action” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of vacillation is vacillations.
How many letters and syllables are in vacillation?
| Letters | 11: V-A-C-I-L-L-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 133,440th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is vacillation?
Vacillation appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 133,440th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce vacillation?
- /væsɪˈleɪʃən/
Vacillation has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-vacillation.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of vacillation
- vacillations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does vacillation mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Indecision in speech or action.
- 2
Changing location by moving back and forth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Vacillation in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Indecision in speech or action:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vacillation |
| German | Unentschlossenheit, Zögerlichkeit, Unschlüssigkeit |
| Spanish | vacilación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does vacillation come from?
From Middle English vacillacion, a learned borrowing from Latin vacillātiō (“swaying”). By surface analysis, vacillate + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).