What does indecisive mean?
Word: Indecisive
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Indecisive means finding it hard to make up your mind.
How do you spell indecisive?
Syllables: in - de - ci - sive
Tricky part: The s sound in the middle comes first as a c. Pupils who go by ear write s there and end up with the wrong letter.
Watch out for: indesisive, indesicive, indecissive
Memory tip: You decide with a c, and someone who cannot decide keeps that c.
Indecisive in a sentence
Example 1: Being indecisive, Kabir stood in front of the bookshelf for half an hour.
Example 2: The class was indecisive about the trip, so the vote had to be held twice.
Example 3: Grandma says an indecisive shopper always comes home with the wrong dress.
Fun Fact
A very old puzzle imagines a donkey standing exactly between two equal heaps of hay, too indecisive to choose either. It is sometimes called Buridan's donkey.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the prefix in. Choose it.
a) decisive
b) rational
c) mature
d) logical
Show answer
a) decisive. Mature takes im, logical takes il and rational takes ir.
Mingle-Mangle
The sentence contains a jumbled word. Choose the word it hides:
My ecnsviidie cousin tried on nine pairs of shoes and then went home without any.
a) indecisive
b) inquisitive
c) indicative
d) incentive
Show answer
a) indecisive. With two e's, three i's, an s and no t or q, the letters pick one word out.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word indecisive as used in the sentence:
Neel was so indecisive at the ice-cream stall that the queue behind him grew and grew.
a) doubtful
b) resolute
c) unsure
d) hesitant
Show answer
b) resolute. Hesitant, doubtful and unsure all describe Neel; resolute means the reverse.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is correct. Choose its meaning.
1. perseverence 2. indecisive 3. ansestor 4. heirarchy
a) a family member from long ago
b) the habit of trying again despite difficulty
c) forever changing between one choice and another
d) a system with ranks one above another
Show answer
c) forever changing between one choice and another. Hierarchy, perseverance and ancestor are all wrongly printed in this list.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which remark sounds most indecisive?
a) I will take the blue one, thank you
b) Maybe the blue one, or the red, or neither
c) The red one is mine, so please wrap it
d) We have already chosen the blue one
Show answer
b) Maybe the blue one, or the red, or neither
2. What would an indecisive team captain be likely to do?
a) bat first each time the team wins the toss
b) keep changing the batting order before the toss
c) name the batting order on the evening before
d) ask the same opening pair to bat every match
Show answer
b) keep changing the batting order before the toss
