What does prevaricated mean?
Prevaricate means to avoid giving a direct, truthful answer, often by using vague, ambiguous, or misleading language. It is especially associated with people who are expected to explain or disclose something but instead shift the subject, offer partial responses, or conceal the truth. The word has a formal and distinctly disapproving tone: saying that someone prevaricated suggests that their evasion was calculated rather than merely accidental. It can be used in legal, political, journalistic, and everyday contexts, as in “the official prevaricated about the missing funds.” The expression “to prevaricate about” is especially common. Because the word implies an attempt to mislead, it is stronger and more accusatory than neutral alternatives such as “to hedge” or “to avoid answering.” It is often used with “continue,” “refuse,” and “seem to,” highlighting a repeated or deliberate failure to be straightforward.
verbTo speak or write evasively, using ambiguous or misleading language instead of giving a direct answer or stating the truth.
- To speak or write in an evasive or misleading way, especially by avoiding a direct answer or the truth.
"When questioned about the discrepancy, the minister continued to prevaricate rather than provide an explanation."
"The witness spent several minutes prevaricating before finally admitting what she had seen."
"His report prevaricated on the causes of the failure, offering no clear account of what had happened."
To prevaricate is to make an answer sound possible without actually making one.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does prevaricated come from?
Prevaricate derives from the Latin praevaricari, meaning “to straddle” or “to act crookedly,” especially in the sense of behaving ambiguately or unfairly. The word entered English in the early 17th century in the sense of making an excuse or evading a point. Its modern association with evasive speech developed from the idea of acting deviously or not dealing straightforwardly with a matter.
Related word forms
How prevaricated is actually used
Prevaricate is a formal word with a strongly critical tone. It commonly describes deliberate evasion through vague, misleading, or evasive speech, rather than simple uncertainty.
Easily confused with prevaricated
Prevaricate means to evade the truth through evasive wording, whereas vacillate means to waver or change one's opinion.
Prevaricate involves avoiding a direct or truthful answer, while fabricate means to invent or falsify information.