adj
Meaning 1
Tossed up and down the waves.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
fluctuate
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈflʌkt͡ʃu.eɪt/
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/ˈflʌkʃu.eɪt/
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/ˈflʌktju.eɪt/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: F L AH1 K CH AH0 W EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Wavering, fickle.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To vary irregularly; to swing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
To undulate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To be irresolute; to waver.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
- I fluctuated between wishing he was back home and wishing I'd never met him.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To cause to vary irregularly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 7
To rise and fall as a wave; to be tossed up and down the waves.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: also, figuratively, literally, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 8
be unstable
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The stock market fluctuates
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: change state, turn
verb
Meaning 9
move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the line on the monitor vacillated
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: vacillate, waver
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: swing
verb
Meaning 10
cause to fluctuate or move in a wavelike pattern
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: move, displace
History
Etymology
First attested in the 1630'; borrowed from Latin flūctuātus, perfect passive participle of flūctuō (“(of the sea) to surge, swell; (of man) to waver, fluctuate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Across languages
Translations
38 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: колебая се (kolebaja se) — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Bulgarian: меня се (menja se) — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Catalan: fluctuar — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Chinese Mandarin: 波動 /波动 (bōdòng) — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Czech: kolísat — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Finnish: heilahdella — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Finnish: vaihdella — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Finnish: heittelehtiä — to vary irregularly; to swing
- French: fluctuer — to vary irregularly; to swing
- German: schwanken — to vary irregularly; to swing
- German: fluktuieren — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Greek: κυμαίνομαι (kymaínomai) — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Hungarian: ingadozik — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Ido: fluktuar — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Māori: manei — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Māori: mānenei — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Norwegian: svinge — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Norwegian: fluktuere — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Persian: نوسان کردن (navasân kardan) — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Russian: колеба́ться (kolebátʹsja) — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Russian: меня́ться (menjátʹsja) — to vary irregularly; to swing
- Bulgarian: меня (menja) — to undulate
- Bulgarian: варирам (variram) — to undulate
- Catalan: fluctuar — to undulate
- French: onduler — to undulate
- Greek: κυμαίνομαι (kymaínomai) — to undulate
- Hungarian: hullámzik — to undulate
- Russian: меня́ться (menjátʹsja) — to undulate
- Russian: варьи́ровать (varʹírovatʹ) — to undulate
- Ottoman Turkish: طالغهلانمق (dalgalanmak) — to undulate
- Bulgarian: колебая се (kolebaja se) — to be irresolute; to waver
- Bulgarian: двоумя се (dvoumja se) — to be irresolute; to waver
- German: (hin und her) schwanken — to be irresolute; to waver
- Hungarian: ingadozik — to be irresolute; to waver
- Finnish: heilutella — to cause to vary irregularly
- Finnish: heilautella — to cause to vary irregularly
- Finnish: heitellä — to cause to vary irregularly
- Russian: колеба́ть (kolebátʹ) — to cause to vary irregularly