vacillate vs hesitate

vacillate and hesitate both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
vacillate	No	No	Yes	No
hesitate	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, hesitate is a hypernym of vacillate; that is, hesitate is a word with a broader meaning than vacillate:

vacillate: be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
hesitate: pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness

Other hypernyms of vacillate include waffle, waver.

vacillate (verb)	hesitate (verb)
move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern	pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action	interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing