1
as in to hesitate
to show uncertainty about the right course of action
he's still wavering about whether to take the job
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of waver
Izzy Baskette, PEOPLE, 8 May 2026
And whether or not customers trust grocers appears to waver depending on the region.
—Saleen Martin, USA Today, 7 May 2026
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2026
As a small rural settlement is swiftly and ruthlessly stripped bare by the twin plagues of a diphtheria epidemic and spreading wildfires, the film eventually descends into a near-literal hellscape, though even when pandemonium takes over on screen, Van Dusen’s formal control never wavers.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for waver
Verb
No need to waver at the edge of a sheer cliff, yearning after Cathy’s glam.
—Izzy Baskette, PEOPLE, 8 May 2026
And whether or not customers trust grocers appears to waver depending on the region.
—Saleen Martin, USA Today, 7 May 2026
Noun
This pricing dynamic leaves little margin of safety if confidence wavers.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2026
As a small rural settlement is swiftly and ruthlessly stripped bare by the twin plagues of a diphtheria epidemic and spreading wildfires, the film eventually descends into a near-literal hellscape, though even when pandemonium takes over on screen, Van Dusen’s formal control never wavers.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for waver
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waver
Verb
-
And the Los Angeles Chargers didn’t hesitate on pulling the trigger.—
Greg Dudek,
Boston Herald,
15 May 2026
-
When leadership is too removed, teams hesitate.—
Sue Mysko,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
-
One risk is that the AI might falter and fail to detect that a person has an actual mental health condition that warrants attention.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
-
With most tropical reefs expected to face conditions like the Gulf’s by 2100—and already faltering under increasingly frequent marine heat waves—that makes the Gulf’s coral a source of valuable genetic information about resilience that could have implications for the rest of the world’s reefs.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
14 May 2026
Noun
-
When the sway gets too risky, the captain closes some of the outer decks.—
Akash Kapur,
New Yorker,
12 May 2026
-
Environmentalists and tribal governments oppose those agreements, calling them an abdication of the state’s regulatory responsibility that gives irrigation districts too much sway over how much water will be allowed to flow through rivers and estuaries amid ongoing fishery and ecological decline.—
Andrew Graham
May 12,
Sacbee.com,
12 May 2026
Verb
-
Their legs trembled beneath them, their hands and heads shook with anxiety, and at times Snow, in tears, curled into the arms of friends and loved ones.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
10 May 2026
-
The mirrored lobby of the fabled New York City nightclub-turned-theater is packed with glittering guests filing in beneath trembling chandeliers.—
Lale Arikoglu,
Condé Nast Traveler,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The album’s closing song, a roots-rock reggae number with Sting on the chorus, represents the thirty-year evolution of Shaggy’s career.—
Natalie Meade,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
-
There might be a fight to escape, but even those few who crawl over rocks and grit and sand to reach terra firma find their surroundings changed.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Players were visibly shaken, as were many in the stands, as medical staff from both teams and EMS placed him on a stretcher and carted him off the field.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
15 May 2026
-
Rinse under cold water 1 minute, shaking to ensure a thorough rinse.—
Midwest Living,
Midwest Living,
15 May 2026
Noun
-
The incident came amid a wave of teen violence across the country.—
Louis Casiano , Brooke Taylor,
FOXNews.com,
20 May 2026
-
This seminal work influenced the first wave of contemporary American producers for public radio.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Verb
-
Your calm precision can keep the whole plan from wobbling.—
Tarot.com,
Chicago Tribune,
17 May 2026
-
The small robots wobble through the parks with lifelike movements, reacting to guests and showing emotion through body language rather than speech.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Waver.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waver. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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