equivocate

Meaning: to speak vaguely or evasively, often to avoid commitment

equivocate in a sentence

How equivocate is used in real sentences:

The spokesperson began to equivocate when asked about the missing funds.

Pressed for a yes-or-no answer, the witness chose to equivocate.

“One captain began to equivocate when asked whether he used the approved longitude method, alternately calling it essential and merely advisory.”
— from the passage The Eastern Turn

“When a visiting geologist began to equivocate about those uncertainties, offering vague answers whenever the council requested a firm date, his cavalier shrug implied that their concerns scarcely mattered.”
— from the passage The Moraine Calendar

Synonyms for equivocate

Other words for equivocate — evade, hedge and prevaricate — carry the same meaning.

evade
hedge
prevaricate

Antonyms of equivocate

Words that mean the opposite of equivocate:

Where it comes from

From Latin aequivocus, meaning 'of equal voice' or 'ambiguous.'

Memory hook

EQUIVOCATE has 'vocal' roots: using equal-sounding words can dodge the point.

Practice equivocate in the app

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