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
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of equivocate
James Powel, USA TODAY, 2 Oct. 2024
There was no pretense about her, no slickness, no political glad-handing or equivocating, just a woman who knew the value of her work and the quality of her project and was crystal clear on how it should be done.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 9 Sep. 2024
Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 3 Nov. 2024
There is one sort of equivocation that does occur in Snyder’s paintings, and that is especially important to them.
—Barry Schwabsky, ARTnews.com, 17 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for equivocate 
Verb
Vance attempted to equivocate the false claims from Trump in the wake of the election that led to the Jan. 6 Insurrection, with Democrats pointing to Russian disinformation campaigns that showed up on Facebook in the 2016 election.
—James Powel, USA TODAY, 2 Oct. 2024
There was no pretense about her, no slickness, no political glad-handing or equivocating, just a woman who knew the value of her work and the quality of her project and was crystal clear on how it should be done.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 9 Sep. 2024
Noun
Whatever happened to honesty in lieu of lies, equivocations or alternative facts?
—Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 3 Nov. 2024
There is one sort of equivocation that does occur in Snyder’s paintings, and that is especially important to them.
—Barry Schwabsky, ARTnews.com, 17 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for equivocate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for equivocate
Verb
-
Trying to weasel things by providing additional levels is abhorrent.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
20 Nov. 2024
-
But when Douglas doesn’t invite her to the business dinner, the show suddenly takes a turn into wacky sitcom territory, with Maxine trying to weasel her way into Douglas’s business to meet and invite the Prince to the Beach Ball.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2024
Noun
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The pleasure mostly derives from picking out the remaining ambiguities, especially related to the film’s flash-forward coda; the finale has already inspired a lot of heated social-media debate over its intention.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
10 Jan. 2025
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Where American Primeval has at least allowed a sliver of ambiguity when portraying whether or not Young was complicit in the massacre’s cover-up until now, there’s none of that here.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
10 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
Venus will conjunct Saturn in Pisces — shaking your expansive ninth house of adventure, wisdom and belief systems — presenting you with a chance to harness your intuition and emotional intelligence to create a practical plan.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
17 Jan. 2025
-
Back then, a nearly 3% devaluation shook markets everywhere.—
William Pesek,
Forbes,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
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If stuck, players can hit the shuffle button, which will mix up where the words appear on the screen.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
18 Jan. 2025
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The comprehensive 3-0 victory seemed to get lost in the shuffle in a gameweek when the Rome derby took precedence and the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia served up thrilling football.—
James Horncastle,
The Athletic,
10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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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
Thesaurus Entries Near equivocate
Cite this Entry
“Equivocate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/equivocate. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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