prevaricate

present singular third person prevaricates · participle present prevaricating · participle past prevaricated · past prevaricated · alternative archaic prævaricate

1. intransitiveobsoletetransitiveTo deviate, transgress; to go astray (from).
2. intransitiveTo speak or act in a manner that is intentionally ambiguous or evasive; equivocate.

   The people saw the politician prevaricate every day.

   2 more examples

   At the moment of her departure he could prevaricate no longer, and, confessing to the gambling, told her the truth as far as he knew it—that the guineas had been won by Wildeve.

   1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, chapter 1, in The Return of the Native […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC

   [Boris Johnson] went: “You’re right, let’s get on with it. Let’s make the decision.” It took him another hour of prevaricating to reach the decision. He went outside, and I think that announcement changed the course of history.

   2026 June 23, Will Walden, quotee, “‘Geldof started flicking Vs at Farage’: the story of the Brexit campaign, told by those with a front-row seat”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: equivocate, waffle, evade · Antonyms: direct

3. intransitivelawTo collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
4. UKlawTo undertake something falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.