evasiveness

/i'veisivnis/
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evasiveness

The witness's evasiveness made the lawyer's questions difficult to answer.

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.
evasiveness

The witness's evasiveness made the lawyer's questions difficult to answer.

Noun
  1. intentionally vague or ambiguous

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