prevaricate
To speak or act in an evasive way to avoid telling the truth or committing oneself.
Prevaricate emphasizes the act of dodging a direct question or spinning a story to avoid a harsh truth. It is less about creating a detailed fake story and more about dancing around the actual facts.
Word relationships
- equivocate: Equivocate specifically involves using ambiguous language with double meanings, whereas prevaricate is a broader term for stalling or dodging the truth.
- tergiversate: Tergiversate is extremely formal and often implies repeatedly changing one's mind or allegiance in addition to being evasive.
- confront: To confront means to face a situation or truth directly and without evasion.
- clarify: To clarify is to make something clear and free from confusion, the exact opposite of evasive speech.
Commonly confused with
- procrastinate: Procrastinate means to delay doing a task, while prevaricate means to delay telling the truth by being evasive.
Word family
- prevarication (noun): The act of speaking or acting evasively to avoid the truth.
- prevaricator (noun): A person who speaks or acts in an evasive manner.
Collocations
- tendency to prevaricate
- refuse to prevaricate
- prevaricate under pressure
Idioms & expressions
- beat around the bush
- dance around the truth
Example sentences
- "When asked directly about the proposed tax hikes, the candidate began to prevaricate, shifting the conversation to general economic growth." A classic political interview where the candidate refuses to give a straight answer.
- "The prosecutor warned the witness not to prevaricate and demanded a simple, direct answer to the question." A legal cross-examination where the witness is being evasive.
Memory hook
Think of 'pre-vary-gate'. Before you go through the gate of truth, you 'vary' your path to avoid it. A crooked plowman making crooked paths away from the truth.
When not to use
Do not use when someone is simply telling a direct, flat-out lie; use 'lie' or 'fabricate' instead.
Fun facts
- In ancient Rome, a 'praevaricator' was specifically a prosecutor who secretly helped the defense, essentially throwing the trial.
Related words
Explore more words
prevarication, equivocate, Circumlocutory, Circumlocution, evasion, stall
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