prevarication
[pri-var-i-key-shuh n]
noun
the act of prevaricating, or lying: Seeing the expression on his mother's face, Nathan realized this was no time for prevarication.
a false or deliberate misstatement; lie: Her many prevarications had apparently paid off; she was free to go.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
falsehood, equivocation, dishonesty, fib, lie, deceitfulness, distortion, tale, untruth, deception, fabrication
Nearby words
- prevailingly,
- prevalence,
- prevalent,
- prevalently,
- prevaricate,
- prevaricator,
- prevenance,
- prevenience,
- prevenient,
- prevenient grace
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for prevarication
prevarication
late 14c., "divergence from a right course, transgression," from Old French prevaricacion "breaking of God's laws, disobedience (to the Faith)" (12c., Modern French prévarication) and directly from Latin praevaricationem (nominative praevaricatio) "duplicity, collusion, a stepping out of line (of duty or behavior)," noun of action from past participle stem of praevaricari "to make a sham accusation, deviate," literally "walk crookedly," in Church Latin, "to transgress," from prae "before" (see pre-) + varicare "to straddle," from varicus "straddling," from varus "bowlegged, knock-kneed" (see varus). Meaning "evasion, quibbling" is attested from 1650s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper