equivocate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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equivocatornoun
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outequivocateverb (used with object)
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equivocatoryadjective
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nonequivocatingadjective
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unequivocatingadjective
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equivocatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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equivocatesimple
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equivocatessimple
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have equivocatedperfect
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has equivocatedperfect
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am equivocatingprogressive
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are equivocatingprogressive
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is equivocatingprogressive
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have been equivocatingperfect progressive
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has been equivocatingperfect progressive
Past
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equivocatedsimple
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had equivocatedperfect
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was equivocatingprogressive
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were equivocatingprogressive
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had been equivocatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of equivocate
1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin aequivocātus, past participle of aequivocāre; see equivocal, -ate 1
Explanation
When you are unwilling to make a decision and almost intentionally go back and forth between two choices, you are equivocating. When politicians equivocate, they are often afraid of upsetting, and thus alienating, voters with their decisions. A key part of equivocate is the root vocate, which comes from the Latin vocare or "voice." When you give your voice to two opposing views in order to mislead or keep your options open, you're equivocating. Think of the expression, to talk out of both sides of your mouth. If you want to go to a party and your parents keep saying "maybe, it depends," tell them to stop equivocating and give you a straight answer.
Vocabulary lists containing equivocate
The Tragedy of Macbeth
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100 Words to Make You Sound Smart
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act II
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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.
See Examples For:
Each time, the Fed chose the same posture: assess; equivocate, delay.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
Asked by a reporter last week whether he considered the Houthis a terrorist group, Mr. Biden did not equivocate.
From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2024
"If he moves toward FX unification that is also a positive. He cannot equivocate."
From Reuters ● Nov. 20, 2023
The medical community has largely done the same thing: appease and equivocate.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2023
She refused to equivocate on the issue of school desegregation, and in the Hispanic community she became an important, heroic voice.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
The Book of Esther was so welcome this year because it never equivocates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
Instead the agency equivocates, emphasizing comfort and stating people should “wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently.”
From Scientific American ● Jun. 15, 2022
When Jacob asks her whether she’s staff — because she seems to have access to locked rooms — or a patient, she equivocates: “Not exactly” is her answer to both questions.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2021
So it really matters how Facebook equivocates about conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones, even if critics can differ on the precise right approach.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2018
“Horatio, you speak like a philosopher who equivocates truth and falsehood,” I said impatiently.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
But he has equivocated over how to get there, sometimes leaning into the threat of force, other times pushing the diplomacy.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2025
Per the indictment, when Employee No. 4 equivocated, Nauta repeated the statement insistently and asked, without apparently subtlety, “What are we going to do?”
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2023
At City Hall though, council members and nonprofit officials equivocated.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 25, 2023
David Malpass, the World Bank president who equivocated about the science of climate change, said he would step down early.
From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023
Had she complained, he would have relied upon those touches, and have equivocated as he equivocated to Hill and Chandos.
From Alexander Pope English Men of Letters Series by Stephen, Leslie, Sir
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
Never—begging Rosamond and the poet's pardon—never—except where reason is very weak, or where the brightest fair has some touch of the equivocating fiend.
From Tales and Novels — Volume 07 by Edgeworth, Maria
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.
