| English Dictionary |
EQUIVOCATE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does equivocate mean?
• EQUIVOCATE (verb)
The verb EQUIVOCATE has 1 sense:
1. be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
Familiarity information: EQUIVOCATE used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it equivocates Past simple: equivocated
Past participle: equivocated
-ing form: equivocating
Sense 1
Meaning:
Be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Synonyms:
beat around the bush; equivocate; palter; prevaricate; tergiversate
Hypernyms (to "equivocate" is one way to...):
misinform; mislead (give false or misleading information to)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
equivocation (falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language)
equivocation (intentionally vague or ambiguous)
equivocation (a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth)
equivocator (a respondent who avoids giving a clear direct answer)
Context examples
"But it is not that that I spoke about," her mother equivocated.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Yahoo as I am, it is well known through all Houyhnhnmland, that, by the instructions and example of my illustrious master, I was able in the compass of two years (although I confess with the utmost difficulty) to remove that infernal habit of lying, shuffling, deceiving, and equivocating, so deeply rooted in the very souls of all my species; especially the Europeans.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
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