What does equivocate mean?
Definitions for equivocate
ɪˈkwɪv əˌkeɪtequiv·o·cate
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word equivocate.
Princeton's WordNet
beat around the bush, equivocate, tergiversate, prevaricate, palterverb
be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
Wiktionary
equivocateverb
To use words of equivocal or doubtful signification; to express one's opinions in terms which admit of different senses, with intent to deceive; to use ambiguous expressions with a view to mislead; as, to equivocate is the work of duplicity.
All that Garnet had to say for him was that he supposed he meant to equivocate. -Edward Stillingfleet.
equivocateverb
To render equivocal or ambiguous.
He equivocated his vow by a mental reservation. -George Buck.
Etymology: From aequivocatus, perfect passive participle of aequivoco, from aequivocus: confer équivoquer. See equivocal.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
To Equivocateverb
To use words of double meaning; to use ambiguous expressions; to mean one thing and express another.
Etymology: æquivocatio, Latin.
Not only Jesuits can equivocate. John Dryden, Hind and Panth.
My soul disdain’d a promise;
But yet your false equivocating tongue,
Your looks, your eyes, your ev’ry motion promis’d:
But you are ripe in frauds, and learn’d in falshoods. Smith.
ChatGPT
equivocate
Equivocate means to avoid giving a clear or direct answer, often with the intention to mislead or deceive. Equivocation often involves using ambiguous language or avoiding committing to a specific viewpoint or stance.
Webster Dictionary
Equivocateadjective
to use words of equivocal or doubtful signification; to express one's opinions in terms which admit of different senses, with intent to deceive; to use ambiguous expressions with a view to mislead; as, to equivocate is the work of duplicity
Equivocateverb
to render equivocal or ambiguous
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of equivocate in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of equivocate in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
Examples of equivocate in a Sentence
I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard.
On this subject I do not which to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No No Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest I will not equivocate I will not retreat a single inch and I will be heard.
There are folks who will equivocate. They’ll say, 'You know, I’m not a scientist.' Well, I’m not either. But the best scientists in the world know that climate change is happening.
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Translations for equivocate
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"equivocate." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/equivocate>.
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