fluctuate

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈflʌktʃəˌweɪt/

📖 Definitions

  1. verb
    To rise and fall irregularly in number or amount; to vary or change continually.; To waver or be uncertain; to vacillate between different opinions or courses of action.; In physics, to undergo random variations around a mean value.

🔗 Details

Word forms

3rd sing.: fluctuates Past: fluctuated Past part.: fluctuated Pres part.: fluctuating

Collocations

fluctuate wildlyfluctuate betweenfluctuate significantlyprices fluctuatefluctuate around

Derivatives

fluctuationfluctuant

Synonyms

varyoscillatewavershiftswingalternate

Antonyms

stabilizeremain constant

Commonly confused

flounder
EN: 'Flounder' means to struggle clumsily or to fail; 'fluctuate' means to rise and fall irregularly.
alternate
EN: 'Alternate' implies a regular back-and-forth pattern; 'fluctuate' implies irregular variation.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the 'ct' in the middle and the 'ua' combination: f-l-u-c-t-u-a-t-e. The related noun is 'fluctuation' (not 'fluctation').

💬 Examples

  1. Stock prices fluctuated wildly throughout the trading session.

  2. His opinions fluctuated between optimism and despair.

  3. Quantum fields fluctuate even in a vacuum state.