equivocation

noun

equiv·​o·​ca·​tion i-ˌkwi-və-ˈkā-shən 

plural equivocations

: deliberate evasiveness in wording : the use of ambiguous or equivocal language

Like any good teacher, he does his best to answer with clarity and minimal equivocation.

—Eric Bugyis

Let me say now without equivocation or need for reflection: Devils tower is the most amazing sight of my entire trip.

—Mel White

: an ambiguous or deliberately evasive statement

His answers were filled with evasions and equivocations.

Increasingly, the inaccuracies, the elisions, and the equivocations were viewed as deliberate acts of subversion, efforts to assert some control over the past instead of simply recording it.

—Benjamin Soskis

Synonyms

• circumlocution
• shuffle
• tergiversation

Examples of equivocation in a Sentence

your equivocation when asked where you were last night is not reassuring

the equivocation of the last line of the poem, "That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know"

Recent Examples on the Web

There are plenty of public policies that require some caution and equivocation, but housing construction, especially in transit-rich areas, is not one of them. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2024

That means October 7 looms, and Asaf’s equivocation lands with the icy crunch of a snowball full of nails lobbed brutally out of the recent past. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 28 Feb. 2024

Five years ago, climate change was a top concern in the bloc without equivocation. —Justin Worland, TIME, 13 May 2024

Garnish: There’s some equivocation among the online recipes on lemon vs. orange peel, perhaps because of the sweetness. —Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 11 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above