weasel word

noun

1. a word used to temper the forthrightness of a statement; a word that makes one's views equivocal, misleading, or confusing.

Other Word Forms

• weasel-worded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of weasel word¹

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Idioms and Phrases

A word used to deprive a statement of its force or evade a direct commitment, as in Calling it “organized spontaneity” is using a weasel word; “organized” has sucked the meaning out of “spontaneity.” This idiom may allude to the weasel's habit of sucking the contents out of a bird's egg, so that only the shell remains. [Late 1800s]