摇摆

• Pinyin: yáo bǎi
• Hanzi breakdown: 摇 = 扌(hand) + 䍃 (phonetic — a vessel shaken by hand); 摆 = 扌(hand) + 罢 (stop/release — the act of swinging and releasing)

Meaning

To sway; to swing; to oscillate; to waver. Describes a back-and-forth physical motion or, figuratively, an unstable or vacillating stance.

Physical: 在风中摇摆 (swaying in the wind), 身体摇摆 (body swaying). Figurative: 立场摇摆 (a vacillating position), 摇摆不定 (indecisive; constantly wavering), 摇摆选民 (swing voters). In politics and diplomacy, 摇摆 describes countries or factions that shift allegiances or are inconsistent in policy positions.

Examples

1. 台风来袭时，广场上高大的棕榈树在强风的肆虐下剧烈摇摆，数根树枝被折断飞出，落入周边的人行道上。 When the typhoon hit, the tall palm trees in the square swayed violently in the fierce wind; several branches snapped off and flew out onto the surrounding sidewalks.
2. 他在几位候选合作伙伴之间摇摆不定，始终无法下定决心，错失了多个极为有利的战略合作窗口期。 He kept wavering between several potential partners and couldn’t make up his mind, missing multiple highly favorable windows for strategic cooperation.
3. 在大选年，两党政策纲领差异悬殊，摇摆州选民的最终倾向往往对整个选举结果起到决定性的影响。 In election years, when the two parties’ platforms differ sharply, swing-state voters’ final leanings often play a decisive role in the overall outcome.

Usage Guide

Context: nature, politics, psychology, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 外交政策上的摇摆不定往往会损害一个国家的国际信誉，使其难以赢得盟友的长期信任，也难以在多边谈判中维护自身的核心利益。(Vacillation in foreign policy often damages a country's international credibility, making it difficult to win long-term trust from allies and to defend core interests in multilateral negotiations.)
• 风一停，湖面便恢复了平静，刚才还在剧烈摇摆的芦苇此刻静静地立在水边，仿佛什么都没有发生过一般。(When the wind stopped, the lake surface recovered its calm; the reeds that had been swaying violently moments before now stood silently by the water's edge, as if nothing had happened.)

Don't Say

• 他的决定摇摆了我 — 摇摆 is intransitive when describing a person's vacillation; for 'his decision swayed me' say 他的决定动摇了我的立场 or 他的决定影响了我的判断; 摇摆了我 is not standard

Origin & History

摇 = 扌(hand) + 䍃 (phonetic — originally a vessel shaken by hand; hence to shake or rock) + 摆 = 扌(hand) + 罢 (stop/set aside — originally to set down, later to swing something and set it in motion)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal