Prevaricate vs Equivocate - What's the difference?
prevaricate | equivocate |
(transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To deviate, transgress; to go astray (from).
To shift or turn from direct speech or behaviour; to evade the truth; to waffle or be (intentionally) ambiguous.
(legal) To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
(legal, UK) To undertake something falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.
To use words of equivocal or doubtful signification; to express one's opinions in terms which admit of different senses, with intent to deceive; to use ambiguous expressions with a view to mislead; as, to equivocate is the work of duplicity.
To render equivocal or ambiguous.
Equivocate is a synonym of prevaricate.
In intransitive terms the difference between prevaricate and equivocate
is that prevaricate is to shift or turn from direct speech or behaviour; to evade the truth; to waffle or be (intentionally) ambiguous while equivocate is to use words of equivocal or doubtful signification; to express one's opinions in terms which admit of different senses, with intent to deceive; to use ambiguous expressions with a view to mislead; as, to equivocate is the work of duplicity.As verbs the difference between prevaricate and equivocate
is that prevaricate is to deviate, transgress; to go astray (from) while equivocate is to use words of equivocal or doubtful signification; to express one's opinions in terms which admit of different senses, with intent to deceive; to use ambiguous expressions with a view to mislead; as, to equivocate is the work of duplicity.prevaricate
English
Alternative forms
* (archaic)Verb
(prevaricat)- The people saw the politician prevaricate every day.
Derived terms
* prevarication * prevaricatorSee also
* lie ----equivocate
English
(Webster 1913)Alternative forms
* (archaic)Verb
(equivocat)- All that Garnet had to say for him was that he supposed he meant to equivocate . -.
- He equivocated his vow by a mental reservation. -.