palter

[pawl-ter]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR palter ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to talk or act insincerely or deceitfully; lie or use trickery.

to bargain with; haggle.

to act carelessly; trifle.

Origin of palter

1530–40 in sense “to speak indistinctly,” perhaps alteration of falter in same sense, with p- from palsy¹

Related formspal·ter·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for palter

babble, equivocate, haggle, bargain, falsify, fib, quibble, deceive, prevaricate

Examples from the Web for palter

Historical Examples of palter

It is in vain to palter with our conscience: there are not two honours—two honesties.
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Never for an instant did either of these palter with the other.
A Son of Hagar
Sir Hall Caine
The honour of the school was in question, and he had no right to palter with that.
The Willoughby Captains
Talbot Baines Reed
Aziel could no longer palter with himself, it was the truth.
Elissa
H. Rider Haggard
It must not, like the witches in Macbeth, "palter in a double sense."
Charles Sumner; His Complete Works, Volume III (of 20)
Charles Sumner

British Dictionary definitions for palter

palter

verb (intr)

to act or talk insincerely

to haggle

Derived Formspalterer, noun

Word Origin for palter

C16: of unknown origin

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

Word Origin and History for palter

1530s, "speak indistinctly," of unknown origin. It has the form of a frequentative, but no verb palt is known. Connection with paltry is uncertain. Hence "play fast and loose" (c.1600). Related: Paltered; paltering; palterer.