equivocate
verb (used without object)
to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead; prevaricate or hedge.
equivocating
-
present participleof equivocate.present participle
A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
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.
Third, political leaders must stop equivocating when antisemitism appears in activist movements, universities or cultural institutions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025
Inside, we shared a 90-minute pocket where Muslim joy didn’t need disclaimers or cautious sidestepping and equivocating.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2025
About 40% of lawmakers — nearly equally divided between Democrats and Republicans — surveyed said they didn’t intend to assert a special privilege to withhold their emails and other records, without equivocating.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2024
Vicentino used an influential 1555 treatise to publish distorted and fabricated accounts of the dispute; it harmed Lusitano’s reputation by portraying him as equivocating and old-fashioned.
From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2023
The individual, with whom Wilder had been holding such equivocating parlance, seemed embarrassed by the sudden interruption, and a little at a loss to know how to conduct himself.
From The Red Rover by James Fenimore Cooper
