prevarication

IPA/prɪˌværɪˈkeɪʃn/
KK[prəvˌɛrəkˈeʃən]IPA/prɪˌværɪˈkeɪʃn/

prevarication — noun

1. the act of answering questions in an unclear or dishonest way, so that people ca

1.nounC1
Definition

the act of answering questions in an unclear or dishonest way, so that people cannot learn the full facts about something

Example

The minister's repeated prevarication during the press conference irritated the journalists.

collocation: prevarication during [event]

After an hour of prevarication, Omar finally admitted he had forgotten to file the report.

Common collocations
  • prevarication about
  • prevarication during
  • accuse of prevarication
  • admit to prevarication
  • tired of prevarication
  • further prevarication
  • a habit of prevarication
Synonyms
  • evasion

    less formal and more common; often implies avoiding a direct answer rather than lying outright

  • equivocation

    even more formal than prevarication; suggests deliberate use of vague or ambiguous language

  • deception

    broader in meaning; includes any act of making someone believe something that is not true, not just verbal evasion

Antonyms
  • candour

    the quality of being open and honest in speech

  • frankness

    the quality of stating opinions and facts directly without evasion

  • truthfulness

    the quality of always telling the truth

Grammar Patterns

prevarication + about + noun phrase

accuse (someone) of prevarication

Usage Note

Common in formal or legal contexts. Frequently appears after verbs like 'accuse of', 'tired of', 'warned about'. Not used in everyday casual conversation.

Common Mistakes

The child's prevarication was obvious when she said she didn't eat the cake with chocolate on her face.
The child's lie was obvious when she said she didn't eat the cake with chocolate on her face.
'Prevarication' is too formal for everyday situations involving children; use 'lie' instead.
He was prevarication about the deadline.
He was prevaricating about the deadline.
'Prevarication' is a noun; use the verb 'prevaricate' when you need a verb form.

2. a written or spoken statement that deliberately gives a false impression or avoi

2.nounC2
Definition

a written or spoken statement that deliberately gives a false impression or avoids giving a direct answer, rather than being simply untrue

Example

The company's annual report was full of prevarications designed to hide the losses.

countable plural: prevarications

Sofia rejected the official explanation as a prevarication and demanded the truth.

Common collocations
  • a prevarication
  • full of prevarications
  • offer a prevarication
  • dismiss as a prevarication
  • a polished prevarication
Synonyms
  • lie

    much more common and direct; a lie is known by the speaker to be false, while a prevarication may avoid the truth through vagueness

  • half-truth

    a statement that is partly true but deliberately misleads by omitting key information

  • evasive answer

    a response that avoids addressing the question directly; less formal than prevarication

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

a prevarication + about + noun phrase

full of prevarications

Usage Note

Unlike sense 1 (which describes the behaviour), this sense refers to an individual instance — one specific statement. Commonly appears in plural form 'prevarications' when listing multiple evasive statements.

Common Mistakes

The weather forecast was a prevarication.
The weather forecast was wrong.
'Prevarication' implies deliberate deception, not a simple mistake.
His prevarication that he was born in 1985 is easy to check.
His false statement that he was born in 1985 is easy to check.
For a straightforward lie about a verifiable fact, 'false statement' or 'lie' is more natural.

Word family

  • prevaricate
    verbC2
  • prevaricator
    nounC2
  • prevaricating
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words refer to avoiding the truth, but they differ in formality and emphasis. 'Prevarication' is formal and narrowly focuses on verbally avoiding a direct answer, often in official or legal settings. 'Evasion' is less formal and more common; it describes avoiding a question or responsibility rather than lying outright — for example, a politician's evasion of a reporter's question. 'Equivocation' is even more formal than prevarication and suggests the deliberate use of vague or ambiguous language (saying something that could be interpreted in two ways). 'Deception' is the broadest term, covering any act — verbal or nonverbal — that makes someone believe something false. If a witness refuses to answer, that is evasion. If they give a deliberately vague answer, that is equivocation. If they tell a clear falsehood, that is deception. If they dance around the issue without answering, that is prevarication.

evasion ↗equivocation ↗deception ↗prevarication ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • act of prevarication
  • habit of prevarication
  • charge of prevarication
  • accusation of prevarication

Adverbs

  • deliberate prevarication
  • further prevarication
  • continued prevarication
  • blatant prevarication

Phrases

  • prevarication and delay
  • prevarication and dishonesty
  • without prevarication

Prepositions

  • prevarication about
  • prevarication over
  • prevarication regarding
  • prevarication during

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'prevarication' comes from the Latin noun 'praevaricatio', which meant 'collusion' or 'fraudulent dealing'. It was formed from the verb 'praevaricari' — literally 'to walk crookedly' — made up of 'prae-' (before) and 'varicare' (to straddle). In ancient Roman law, a 'praevaricator' was a lawyer who secretly helped the opposing side by pretending to argue for his own client, a kind of legal betrayal. Over time the meaning shifted from the idea of 'walking a crooked path' to 'speaking in a crooked or evasive way', arriving in English through French in the 1500s.