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Synonyms

prevaricator

American  
[pri-var-i-key-ter] / prɪˈvær ɪˌkeɪ tər /

noun

  1. a person who speaks falsely; liar.

  2. a person who speaks so as to avoid the precise truth; quibbler; equivocator.


Etymology

Origin of prevaricator

1535–45; < Latin praevāricātor; prevaricate, -tor

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.

He loved “the game of cops and robbers,” he recounted, and became an expert prevaricator.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 28, 2024

Santos has styled himself as a theatrical prevaricator and a maximalist.

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2023

Not the way they knew Boris Johnson — former London mayor, newspaper columnist, colorful orator, serial prevaricator — when he took office just a few years ago.

From Washington Post • Sep. 3, 2022

He was “a chronic prevaricator whose lies were so gaudy and wrapped around they might have been a medieval tapestry of what almost or never happened.”

From New York Times • Dec. 28, 2010

You see," went on the prevaricator cheerfully, "it would be necessary to run down to Toronto soon anyway.

From Up the Hill and Over by Mackay, Isabel Ecclestone