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

This, along with the ICC's decision to indict a Hamas commander—in the same breath as Netanyahu and Gallant—exposes the macabre moral equivocation that so often lurks behind the legal mumbo jumbo of both international organizations. —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2024

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

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

Word History

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above