whiffle
Gust in shifts
To whiffle is to blow in light, shifting gusts—wind that can't settle on a direction: A breeze whiffled through the curtains.
By extension, whiffle describes vacillating or being indecisive, shifting positions like an unsteady wind: He whiffled on the question for weeks before committing.
The word is uncommon but appears in both literal and figurative contexts.
Waver between choices
- ditherNervous inability to choose
- hesitatePause in uncertainty
- equivocateSpeak vaguely to mislead
- fluctuateVary irregularly over time
shift · oscillate · sway · falter · hedge · wobble · teeter · shilly-shally
Not worthy of attention
- fancifulImaginatively unrealistic
- triflingOf no real importance
- flightyErratic and unreliable
- capriciousSubject to sudden changes
playful · lighthearted · airy · featherlight · inconsequential · idle · frolicsome · fleeting
vacillate
Waver between choices
- ditherNervous inability to choose
- hesitatePause in uncertainty
- equivocateSpeak vaguely to mislead
fluctuate · shift · oscillate · sway · falter · hedge · wobble · teeter · shilly-shally · hem and haw
puff
Brief burst of air
flutter · zephyr · draft · blow · exhale · billow · ruffle · stir · whisper · sigh
frivolous
Not worthy of attention
capricious · playful · lighthearted · airy · featherlight · inconsequential · idle · frolicsome · fleeting · dallying
- catch a whiff
- whiffle ballPerforated plastic sport sphere
- take a whiff