Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Lack of resolution; lack of decision or purpose; vacillation.
- noun Synonyms Indecision, hesitancy, wavering, faltering.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Lack of resolution; lack of decision in purpose; a fluctuation of mind, as in doubt, or between hope and fear; irresoluteness; indecision; vacillation.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Lack of
resolution ; lack ofdecision orpurpose ;vacillation .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun doubt concerning two or more possible alternatives or courses of action
- noun the trait of being irresolute; lacking firmness of purpose
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The hour of my irresolution is past, and the period of your power is arrived.
Chapter 20 2010
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But behind his irresolution is his hatred of bloodshed: he could whip out his sword and on a sudden kill Polonius, mistaking him for the king (Herbert), but he could not, in cold blood, make up his mind to kill and proceed to execution.
The Man Shakespeare Harris, Frank, 1855-1931 1909
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But behind his irresolution is his hatred of bloodshed: he could whip out his sword and on a sudden kill Polonius, mistaking him for the king (Herbert), but he could not, in cold blood, make up his mind to kill and proceed to execution.
The Man Shakespeare Frank Harris 1893
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She urged the conspirators to do their work, and chided in the strongest terms their irresolution and pusillanimity.
Nero Makers of History Series Jacob Abbott 1841
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The second cause appears to have been, the uncertainty of our merchants where to send the goods, and who to trust, as the fear of the extension of French power took away confidence, and produced a sort of irresolution, which is always hurtful to business.
An Inquiry into the Permanent Causes of the Decline and Fall of Powerful and Wealthy Nations. Designed To Shew How The Prosperity Of The British Empire May Be Prolonged William Playfair 1791
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On this text, so often quoted in support of the orthodox "irresolution" theory, I will content myself at present with the remark, thats surely no one before or after Hamlet ever accounted for his non-performance of
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It was quite unnecessary to prepare me against any kind of irresolution of his.
George Selwyn: His Letters and His Life Helen [Editor] Clergue
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And then the word "irresolution" leaps forth, and all is explained.
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It was quite unnecessary to prepare me against any kind of irresolution of his.
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But in all this there is no difference between a physicist, a historian, and a philosopher; and again, slowness, want of skill, and even helplessness are something totally different from the peculiar kind of irresolution that Hamlet shows.
Shakespearean Tragedy Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth 1893
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