evasiveness
/i'veisivnis/
Definition
Noun: 1. The quality of being intentionally vague, unclear, or ambiguous in speech or action; the act of avoiding giving a direct or honest answer. * It describes a deliberate strategy to not be straightforward, often to avoid commitment, responsibility, or revealing information.
Examples of Usage
- The politician's evasiveness during the interview frustrated the journalists, who could not get a clear answer.
- I sensed a certain evasiveness in his explanation about where he had been.
- Her evasiveness on the subject made me suspect she was hiding something.
Advanced Usage
- "To answer with evasiveness": To reply in a deliberately indirect or non-committal way.
- When asked about the budget cuts, the manager answered with characteristic evasiveness.
- "A tactic of evasiveness": Using ambiguity or indirectness as a planned method.
- The witness's consistent evasiveness was seen as a tactic to avoid perjury.
Variants and Related Words
- Evasive (adjective): Characterized by evasiveness.
- He gave an evasive answer to the direct question.
- Evade (verb): To avoid or escape from something, often cleverly or deceitfully. This is the root verb.
- He tried to evade the question.
Synonyms
- Elusiveness: The quality of being hard to pin down or define.
- Prevarication: The act of lying or deviating from the truth.
- Equivocation: The use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself.
- Indirectness: Not being straightforward or to the point.
Antonyms
- Directness: The quality of being straightforward and clear.
- Frankness: The quality of being open, honest, and direct in speech or writing.
- Candor: The quality of being open and honest in expression; frankness.
- Forthrightness: Direct and outspoken; straightforward.
Related Phrases
- To be evasive: This is the adjectival phrase describing the behavior.
- Don't be evasive; just give me a straight yes or no.
- A wall of evasiveness: A metaphorical barrier created by indirect answers.
- The press conference hit a wall of evasiveness from the spokesperson.
Noun
-
intentionally vague or ambiguous
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