hesitancy
Wavering before deciding
Hesitancy is the quality of being hesitant—a reluctance or unwillingness to act decisively.
It suggests doubt or uncertainty that causes delay: Her hesitancy about accepting the job offer worried her friends.
Vaccine hesitancy describes reluctance to receive vaccinations despite their availability.
The word overlaps with hesitation, though hesitancy emphasizes the underlying disposition while hesitation emphasizes the pause itself.
Capacity to withstand force
- inhibitionMental check on behavior
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- timidityFearful lack of courage
- reticenceHabitual verbal restraint
demurral · foot-dragging · disinclination · unwillingness · aversion · holdback · balking · dragging feet
Inability to choose
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- ditheringProlonged indecisive hesitation
- irresolutionLack of firm decision
- equivocationAmbiguous language avoiding commitment
fence-sitting · oscillation · deliberation · quandary · noncommittal · teetering · shilly-shally · waffling
Disposition toward doubt
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- mistrustLack of faith
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
- distrustAbsence of confidence
incredulity · qualm · reservation · misgivings · wariness · demur · second-guessing · disbelief
Careful, wise judgment
- warinessCautious distrust
- vigilanceState of keen awareness
- circumspectionCareful consideration of consequences
- discretionCareful judgment in speech
forethought · carefulness · judiciousness · foresight · precaution · guardedness · deliberateness · measured
Openness to multiple interpretations
- vaguenessAbsence of precision
- indefinitenessLack of clear boundaries
- perplexityMental state of confusion
- confusionMental disorientation or bewilderment
unpredictability · haziness · incertitude · unsureness · doubtfulness · tentativeness · inconclusiveness · open-endedness
resistance
Capacity to withstand force
- inhibitionMental check on behavior
- apprehensionNervous anticipation of trouble
- timidityFearful lack of courage
reticence · demurral · foot-dragging · disinclination · unwillingness · aversion · holdback · balking · dragging feet · hanging fire
vacillation
Inability to choose
- waveringShowing unsteady resolve
- ditheringProlonged indecisive hesitation
- irresolutionLack of firm decision
equivocation · fence-sitting · oscillation · deliberation · quandary · noncommittal · teetering · shilly-shally · waffling · hemming and hawing
skepticism
Disposition toward doubt
- questioningSeeking answers through inquiry
- mistrustLack of faith
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
distrust · incredulity · qualm · reservation · misgivings · wariness · demur · second-guessing · disbelief · cynicism
prudence
Careful, wise judgment
- warinessCautious distrust
- vigilanceState of keen awareness
- circumspectionCareful consideration of consequences
discretion · forethought · carefulness · judiciousness · foresight · precaution · guardedness · deliberateness · measured · gingerliness
ambiguity
Openness to multiple interpretations
- vaguenessAbsence of precision
- indefinitenessLack of clear boundaries
- perplexityMental state of confusion
confusion · unpredictability · haziness · incertitude · unsureness · doubtfulness · tentativeness · inconclusiveness · open-endedness · indeterminacy
- vaccinationvaccine, vaccines, immunization, shot, shots
- warinesscaution, wariness, guardedness, vigilance, watchfulness
- Bladder Problemsbladder cancer, bladder infection, bladder stones, bladder spasms, cystitis
- urologyurologist, urology, bladder, kidney, kidneys
- urinationurination, urinate, voiding, micturition, pee
- vaccinesvaccine, Pfizer, polio vaccine, Moderna, vaccines
hesitancyresolution
Formal decision or determination
resoluteness · decisiveness · determination · firmness · resolve
hesitancyconfidence
Self-assurance or trust
certainty · assurance · sureness · assuredness · conviction
hesitancyeagerness
Intense willingness to act
willingness · readiness · alacrity · enthusiasm · inclination
- vaccine hesitancyReluctance to accept immunization