prevaricate

English

WOTD – 5 December 2006

Alternative forms

• prævaricate (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin praevāricātus, perfect active participle of praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; to play a false or double part”), from prae- + vāricō (“to stand with feet apart, straddle”), from vāricus (“with feet spread apart”); see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈvaɹɪkeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɹɪˈvæɹɪkeɪt/, /pɹɪˈvɛɹɪkeɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

prevaricate (third-person singular simple present prevaricates, present participle prevaricating, simple past and past participle prevaricated)

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

   Synonyms: equivocate, waffle, evade

   Antonym: direct

   The people saw the politician prevaricate every day.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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^[1], →ISSN:

     [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.

3. (intransitive, law) To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
4. (law, UK) To undertake something falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.

Synonyms

• beat about the bush
• beat around the bush
• equivocate
• fabricate
• fib
• lie
• tergiversate

Derived terms

• prevaricatest
• prevaricatingly
• prevarication
• prevaricator
• unprevaricating

Translations

deviate, transgress

• Bulgarian: извъртам (bg) (izvărtam)
• Catalan: prevaricar (ca)
• Dutch: afwijken (nl), terugkrabbelen (nl)
• French: prévariquer (fr), forfaire (fr)
• Italian: prevaricare (it)
• Māori: tītahataha
• Polish: kręcić (pl) impf, lawirować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: prevaricar (pt)

shift or turn from direct speech or behaviour, to equivocate

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 搪塞 (zh) (tángsè)

• Dutch: rond de pot draaien (nl)
• Finnish: vältellä (fi)
• French: éluder (fr), se dérober (fr), être/rester évasif
• Georgian: მიკიბვ-მოკიბვა (miḳibv-moḳibva)
• German: ausweichen (de), Ausflüchte machen
• Hungarian: köntörfalaz (hu), kertel (hu)
• Italian: essere evasivo, equivocare (it)
• Kazakh: бұлтақтау (būltaqtau)
• Māori: tītahataha
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: булзах (mn) (bulzax)

  Mongolian script: ᠪᠤᠯᠵᠠᠬᠤ (bulǰaqu)

• Polish: wykręcać się od odpowiedzi impf, wykręcić się od odpowiedzi pf
• Russian: уви́ливать (ru) (uvílivatʹ)

(law) collude

• French: prévariquer (fr)
• Polish: zmawiać się impf, zmówić się pf

See also

• lie

References

• “prevaricate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

prevaricate

1. inflection of prevaricare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

prevaricate f pl

1. feminine plural of prevaricato

Spanish

Verb

prevaricate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of prevaricar combined with te