Word of the Day

Friday January 22, 2010

• Today's Word |
• Yesterday's Word |
• Previous Words |
• Subscribe Now

prevaricate [prih-VAIR-uh-kayt]

intransitive verb

1. To evade the truth; to speak with equivocation; to quibble.

• If nothing else, give 'em points for moxie and a directionally correct embrace of reality. For if GM is to have a future -- a legit, honest-to-God chance at paying back its loans, issuing shares to investors, even making a bona fide profit -- it cannot prevaricate, cannot sandbag, cannot shrink from unsparing comparisons to the best from Toyota and Honda. Most of all, it cannot make excuses.
  Daniel Howes, "GM out to shock American consumer", Detroit News, Oct 15, 2009
• Appearing before British MPs, eager for blood in their hunt for scapegoats over the T5 debacle, Mr Walsh showed his talent for disarming self-deprecation, too. While Sir Nigel Rudd and Colin Matthews, BAA chairman and chief executive, could only prevaricate, Mr Walsh confessed to blunders pledged to put it right.
  Kevin Done, "The pugnacious pilot", Financial Times, Jun 20, 2009
• He was the original Little Brother to the Poor. He was always giving away money. When we caught him, he would prevaricate. He would say the man was a college chum, that he had borrowed the money from him, and that this was the first chance he had had to pay it back.
  Richard Harding Davis (1864 - 1916) An American writer and journalist. The Deserter (1918)

Origin of the Word

Prevaricate, approximately 1580, derives from Latin praevaricari "to make a sham accusation, deviate," literally "walk crookedly."