equivocally
Americanadverb
-
in a deliberately ambiguous or questionable way.
-
in a way that is doubtful in nature or of uncertain significance.
Etymology
Origin of equivocally
First recorded in 1575–85, for an earlier sense; equivocal ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Ryan Rosser, a current member of the Columbus fugitive task force, testified on behalf of Meade that he couldn’t equivocally say whether Meade was acting as a sheriff’s deputy that day.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2022
Drawing on John Locke, he observed that “no language is so copious as to supply words and phrases for every complex idea, or so correct as not to include many equivocally denoting different ideas.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 16, 2020
“Before the Fall” answers this question equivocally — but it comes closest with the art of a Jewish painter who, it goes without saying, could not treat that question academically.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2018
Anti-heroic, equivocally likeable protagonists are stock characters in Mr Shinn’s plays.
From Economist ● Aug. 22, 2017
But many viewed more equivocally the Super bomb program in which the reactor program was embedded.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
