PREVARICATE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Prevaricate

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/prəvˈɛrəkeɪt/ Listen

verb

Prevaricate v. t. To evade by a quibble; to transgress; to pervert. (Obs.)

Prevaricate v. i. (past & past part. prevaricated; pres. part. prevaricating)

To shift or turn from one side to the other, from the direct course, or from truth; to speak with equivocation; to shuffle; to quibble; as, he prevaricates in his statement. "He prevaricates with his own understanding."

(Civil Law) To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.

(Eng. Law) To undertake a thing falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.

Synonyms: To evade; equivocate; quibble; shuffle. Prevaricate, Evade, Equivocate. One who evades a question ostensibly answers it, but really turns aside to some other point. He who equivocate uses words which have a double meaning, so that in one sense he can claim to have said the truth, though he does in fact deceive, and intends to do it. He who prevaricates talks all round the question, hoping to "dodge" it, and disclose nothing.

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Etymology of 'Prevaricate'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Prevaricate" Quotes from Famous Books

... "dis am a right bad case ob lasy majesty, 'ca'se de king been step on. Whin yivery li'l' black boy whut choose' gwine wander round at night an' stip on de king ob ghostes, it ain't no time for to palaver, it ain't no time for to prevaricate, it ain't no time for to cogitate, it ain't no time do nuffin' but tell de truth, an' de whole truth, an' nuffin' but ...

— Humorous Ghost Stories • Dorothy Scarborough

... at the peril in which she found herself. Confused, also, with a thousand inexpressible sensations which the dean's presence inspired, she seemed to prevaricate in all she uttered. Accused of this prevarication, she was still more disconcerted; said, and unsaid; confessed herself the mother of the infant, but declared she did not know, then owned she did know, the name of the man who ...

— Nature and Art • Mrs. Inchbald

... woman warranted to love, honor and obey the purchaser. If you swindle the other contracting party in the essentials of the contract, don't complain when you are unhappy. Are shufflers entitled to happiness? and what are those who shuffle and prevaricate in a church any better than those who shuffle and prevaricate in a counting-house?" ...

— Love Me Little, Love Me Long • Charles Reade

... public man not to bend the knee to popular prejudice. It takes courage to refuse to follow custom when it is injurious to his health and morals. How much easier for a politician to prevaricate and dodge an issue than to stand squarely on his feet ...

— Pushing to the Front • Orison Swett Marden

... being questioned concerning his journey, concerning his letter,[219] and lastly, what object he had had in view,[220] and from what motives he had acted, at first began to prevaricate,[221] and to pretend ignorance of the conspiracy; but at length, when he was told to speak on the security of the public faith,[222] he disclosed every circumstance as it had really occurred, stating that he had been admitted as an associate, a few days before, by Gabinius ...

— Conspiracy of Catiline and The Jurgurthine War • Sallust

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