What does prevarication mean?

Definitions for prevarication
pre·var·i·ca·tion

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word prevarication.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. lie, prevaricationnoun

    a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth

  2. equivocation, prevarication, evasivenessnoun

    intentionally vague or ambiguous

  3. lying, prevarication, fabricationnoun

    the deliberate act of deviating from the truth

Wiktionary

  1. prevaricationnoun

    Deviation from what is right or correct; transgression, perversion.

  2. prevaricationnoun

    Evasion of the truth; deceit, evasiveness.

    Prevarication became the order of the day in his government while truth was a stranger in those halls.

  3. prevaricationnoun

    Evasiveness as a means of playing for time; procrastination, hesitancy.

  4. Etymology: From prevaricaciun, prevarication, and their source, praevaricatio, from the stem of praevaricari.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Prevaricationnoun

    Shuffle; cavil.

    Etymology: prævaricatio, Lat. prevarication, Fr. from prevaricate.

    Several Romans, taken prisoners by Hannibal, were released upon obliging themselves by an oath to return again to his camp: among these was one, who, thinking to elude the oath, went the same day back to the camp, on pretence of having forgot something; but this prevarication was so shocking to the Roman senate, that they ordered him to be delivered up to Hannibal. Joseph Addison, Freeholder.

ChatGPT

  1. prevarication

    Prevarication is the act of speaking or behaving in an evasive, deceptive, or misleading manner to avoid telling the truth or being straightforward. It often involves providing vague, ambiguous, or unclear information with the intent to deceive or mislead.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Prevaricationnoun

    the act of prevaricating, shuffling, or quibbling, to evade the truth or the disclosure of truth; a deviation from the truth and fair dealing

  2. Prevaricationnoun

    a secret abuse in the exercise of a public office

  3. Prevaricationnoun

    the collusion of an informer with the defendant, for the purpose of making a sham prosecution

  4. Prevaricationnoun

    a false or deceitful seeming to undertake a thing for the purpose of defeating or destroying it

  5. Etymology: [L. praevaricatio: cf. F. prvarication.]

How to pronounce prevarication?

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of prevarication in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of prevarication in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of prevarication in a Sentence

  1. Owen Smith:

    We should be getting on with it [Hinkley Point] not least because there are thousands and thousands of jobs depending on this project, prevarication and weakness from the government is leading to jeopardising those jobs.

  2. Milorad Dodik:

    ...There is no time for delay, for prevarication or for obstructionism from any quarter.

  3. Nuha Ftaima:

    Without prevarication I say it. We call for a military solution.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

prevarication#100000#218824#333333

Translations for prevarication

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"prevarication." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/prevarication>.

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