equivocation

[ ih-kwiv-uh-key-shuhn ]

See synonyms for equivocation on Thesaurus.com

noun

the use of equivocal or ambiguous expressions, especially in order to mislead or hedge; prevarication.
an equivocal, ambiguous expression; equivoque: The speech was marked by elaborate equivocations.

Logic. a fallacy caused by the double meaning of a word.

Origin of equivocation

1350–1400; Middle English equivocacion<Late Latin aequivocātiōn- (stem of aequivocātiō). See equivocate, -ion

Words Nearby equivocation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use equivocation in a sentence

Brian Cox plays his overbearing patriarch with booming conviction that prizes fury over equivocation.
‘Succession’ Season 3 Premiere Recap: Kendall Channels O.J. and Logan Wants Blood | Laura Bradley | October 18, 2021 | The Daily Beast
equivocation around mask-wearing has been one of his most notable other failures in the pandemic response.
50 million world Covid-19 cases: The biggest outbreaks, explained | Christina Animashaun | November 9, 2020 | Vox
But diplomatic ambiguity that translates into equivocation and weakness is not helpful at all.
Is the U.S. Enabling Putin's Invasion? | Christopher Dickey | August 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The equivocation leads Weisberg to shift the meaning of flexibility.
Liberals Need to Learn to Say No | Bernhard Schlink | July 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The belligerents in abortion wars disdain this search for compromise as mere equivocation, a flinching from deeper truths.
How to End the Abortion Wars | David Frum | August 20, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

Romney was so proud of his pro-choice pedigree that he even tweaked his Senate opponent, Democrat Ted Kennedy, for equivocation.
Is Romney the Next Kerry? | Matt Latimer | October 9, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
Yeah, yeah, Chris said; or something like that—not buying my equivocation and pressing on with the subjunctive.
Would My Father Have Voted for Obama? | Christopher Buckley | May 12, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Sovereigns, as well as gods, have sometimes made use of equivocation.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
Who would venture to assert that Paul, or that anybody, could catch the trick of equivocation in such a service?
Expositor's Bible: The Second Epistle to the Corinthians | James Denney
Anywhere, everywhere, he would have spoken his convictions without concealment, without equivocation.
The Broken Sword | Dennison Worthington
He is among those whose names have given rise to a word: "escobarderie" is a synonym for equivocation.
The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal | Blaise Pascal
But this is no equivocation, it is evidence there, that subordinate laws exist and nothing more.
Epidemics Examined and Explained: or, Living Germs Proved by Analogy to be a Source of Disease | John Grove

British Dictionary definitions for equivocation

equivocation

/ (ɪˌkwɪvəˈkeɪʃən) /

noun

the act or an instance of equivocating
logic a fallacy based on the use of the same term in different senses, esp as the middle term of a syllogism, as the badger lives in the bank, and the bank is in the High Street, so the badger lives in the High Street

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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