Definition

Prevarication is the act of lying or deliberately avoiding the truth.

Pronunciation

US English

UK English

Part of Speech

Prevarication is a noun.

Synonyms

Deceit, falsehood, dishonesty, evasion, equivocation.

Antonyms

Truthfulness, honesty, candor, straightforwardness, frankness.

Word Forms

Part of Speech Words
Noun prevaricator, prevarications, prevarication, prevaricators
Verb prevaricates, prevaricating, prevaricated, prevaricate
Adjective None
Adverb None

Example Sentences

  • His prevarication was exposed when he was caught in a lie.

  • She used prevarication to avoid answering the question directly.

  • The politician’s prevarication on the issue led to increased scrutiny from the media.

  • The company’s prevarication about the safety of its products led to a loss of public trust.

Usage

The word “prevarication” is used to describe the act of lying or deliberately avoiding the truth. It is often used to describe situations where someone is being intentionally deceptive or misleading. The term can also be used to describe situations where someone is being evasive or unclear in their responses.

The word “prevarication” is derived from the Latin word “praevi”, which means to stray or go astray. The suffix “-cation” is added to create the noun form of the word. Other related words include “prevaricate”, which is the verb form of the word, and “prevaricator”, which is a person who engages in prevarication.

There are several variations of the word “prevarication” that have slightly different meanings or connotations. For example, the word “evasion” is often used to describe situations where someone is trying to avoid answering a question directly. “Deceit” and “falsehood” are used to describe situations where someone is intentionally lying or misrepresenting the truth.

The prefix “pre-” is added to the beginning of the word “varication” to create “prevarication”. This prefix means “before” or “in advance of”, and is often used to indicate that something is happening before a particular event or action.

In summary, “prevarication” is a noun used to describe the act of lying or deliberately avoiding the truth. It is often used in situations where someone is being intentionally deceptive or misleading. There are several variations of the word “prevarication” that have slightly different meanings or connotations, including “evasion”, “deceit”, and “falsehood”. The word is derived from the Latin word “praevi”, and the prefix “pre-” is added to indicate that something is happening before a particular event or action.