Definition

The act of avoiding the truth or being deliberately unclear in order to mislead or deceive.

Example

His prevarication during the interview made it clear that he was hiding something.

Conversation

I can’t believe he tried to avoid the issue with such prevarication.

Yeah, it was obvious he wasn’t being truthful.

It makes you wonder why he couldn't just be honest.

Exactly, prevarication just makes everything worse.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Prevarication is formed from "pre-" (meaning before) and "varicare" (meaning to straddle or to evade). The word describes the act of evading the truth or straddling between two positions, often in a deceptive manner.

Memory Tip

Think of someone who is 'straddling' ('varicare') between two truths, 'before' ('pre-') making a statement — that's why prevarication means to avoid telling the truth.

Visually Confused Words