Definition

1. Noun:
   • The deliberate act of deviating from the truth: The act of avoiding a direct, honest answer or statement; evasion or deceit in speech or action.
   • Intentionally vague or ambiguous speech: The use of unclear or misleading language to avoid commitment or to conceal the truth.
   • A statement that deviates from or perverts the truth: A specific instance of lying or being evasive; a false or misleading utterance.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • His prevarication when asked about the missing funds made everyone suspicious. (His evasion of the truth when asked about the missing funds made everyone suspicious.)
  • The politician's answer was a masterful prevarication, full of vague promises. (The politician's answer was a masterful piece of evasive speech, full of vague promises.)
  • We are tired of the constant prevarications from the company's management. (We are tired of the constant misleading statements from the company's management.)

Advanced Usage

• "To be guilty of prevarication": To be culpable for avoiding the truth.

  • The witness was found guilty of prevarication during the trial. (The witness was found culpable for avoiding the truth during the trial.)

• "A web of prevarication": A complex series of lies or evasions.

  • He had spun such a web of prevarication that he could no longer remember his original story. (He had created such a complex series of lies that he could no longer remember his original story.)

Variants and Related Words

• Prevaricate (verb): To speak or act in an evasive way; to avoid telling the truth directly.

  • He chose to prevaricate rather than give a straight answer. (He chose to be evasive rather than give a straight answer.)

• Prevaricator (noun): A person who speaks or acts evasively; a liar.

  • The investigation revealed him to be a habitual prevaricator. (The investigation revealed him to be a habitual liar.)

Synonyms

• Equivocation: The use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself.
• Evasion: The act of avoiding something, especially a direct answer or truth.
• Fabrication: The action or process of inventing or concocting something, typically a deceitful story.

Related Phrases

• To hedge or to dodge the question: To avoid giving a direct answer (similar in meaning to prevaricating).
  • Instead of admitting fault, he hedged and dodged the question. (Instead of admitting fault, he avoided giving a direct answer.)

Related Idioms

• To beat around the bush: To avoid talking about what is important; to speak indirectly.
  • Stop beating around the bush and tell me what really happened. (Stop avoiding the main point and tell me what really happened.)

Noun

1. the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
2. intentionally vague or ambiguous
3. a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth