as in to weasel
to avoid giving a definite answer or position
the candidate equivocated as long as he could on controversial issues
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in ambiguity
deliberate evasion in speech
your equivocation when asked where you were last night is not reassuring
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ambiguousness
the quality or state of having a veiled or uncertain meaning
the equivocation of the last line of the poem, "That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of equivocate
Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 7 Jan. 2025
And one of the things there is that there's a perception, fair or otherwise, that Democrats have equivocated about political violence from anti-Israel protestors, more recently, the killing of United Health CEO, Brian Thompson.
—ABC News, 5 Jan. 2025
Dr. Josh Green, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2025
There is no equivocation about whether or not Jamie killed Katie.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for equivocate
Verb
Less than 10 minutes into a British parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, during which a Shein representative equivocated on questions relating to the e-tail Goliath’s supply chain and a potential public float, a visibly frustrated Member of Parliament made his feelings known in no uncertain terms.
—Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 7 Jan. 2025
And one of the things there is that there's a perception, fair or otherwise, that Democrats have equivocated about political violence from anti-Israel protestors, more recently, the killing of United Health CEO, Brian Thompson.
—ABC News, 5 Jan. 2025
Noun
Now is not the time for equivocation or delay.
—Dr. Josh Green, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2025
There is no equivocation about whether or not Jamie killed Katie.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for equivocate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for equivocate
Verb
-
One of Wishman’s most Sapphic films is this gritty black-and-white sexploitation shocker about assassins who weasel their way into an apartment shared by two lesbians in order to kill a foreign dignitary.—
Erik Piepenburg,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
-
Trying to weasel things by providing additional levels is abhorrent.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
20 Nov. 2024
Noun
-
Young people lack experience with the awkward pauses of conversation, the ambiguity of social cues, and the grit required to make up with a hurt or angry friend.—
Russell Shaw,
The Atlantic,
11 July 2025
-
Poker Face has played fast and loose with how Charlie’s gift actually works, an intentional ambiguity that only gets more complicated with the reveal that actually, yeah, Charlie can be lied to.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 July 2025
Verb
-
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić shaking hands after signing bilateral documents during a meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 8, 2024.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 July 2025
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Nikki Bella and Lola Vice were shaking their hips in the middle of the ring, and Wade Barrett encouraged Michael Cole to show them what he’s got.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Noun
-
There was one powerful addition in 2024: retiring U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Aubrey, was appointed to the Rules Committee chairmanship in the shuffle after Granger stepped down as chair.—
Maria Recio,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
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However, this trend from businesses has led to an arms race of escalating automation, with candidates using AI to generate interview answers while companies deploy AI to detect them—creating what amounts to machines talking to machines while humans get lost in the shuffle.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
24 June 2025
Noun
-
Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.—
Tom Gliatto,
Peoplemag,
16 Nov. 2023
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By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.—
Giles Harvey,
The New York Review of Books,
23 Apr. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Equivocate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/equivocate. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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