Word a Day
prevaricate
What does prevaricate mean?
prevaricate (verb): to speak or act in a manner that is intentionally ambiguous or evasive; equivocate.
Definition: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
How do you use prevaricate in a sentence?
- If we prevaricate and postpone this issue, the committee can continue to hide behind its inaction. (Tatoeba sentence #10076668 by kindpanda, CC BY 2.0 FR)
How do you pronounce prevaricate?
/pɹəˈvɛɹəkeɪt/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does prevaricate come from?
Borrowed from Latin praevāricātus, perfect active participle of praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; to play a false or double part”), from prae- + vāricō (“to stand with feet apart, straddle”), from vāricus (“with feet spread apart”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Test yourself: do you know “prevaricate”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “prevaricate” mean?
to progressively lose its splendor, value, ardor, power, intensity etc.; to decline
Not quite: that's what wane means.
to spoil, make faulty; to reduce the value, quality, or effectiveness of something
Not quite: that's what vitiate means.
to abandon, to give up, to leave (permanently), to renounce (someone or something)
Not quite: that's what forsake means.
to speak or act in a manner that is intentionally ambiguous or evasive; equivocate
Right! That's what “prevaricate” means.
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