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prevarication

 [prih-var-i-key-shuhn] Example Sentences Origin

pre·var·i·ca·tion

  [prih-var-i-key-shuhn]
noun
1.
the act of prevaricating, or lying: Seeing the expression on his mother's face, Nathan realized this was no time for prevarication.
2.
a false or deliberate misstatement; lie: Her many prevarications had apparently paid off; she was free to go.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To prevarication
Example Sentences
  • The judge will likely scrutinize her testimony closely for any signs of prior duress or, alternatively, prevarication.
  • But this truce was followed by more parliamentary squabbling and prevarication.
  • His press conference in the spring featured more prevarication than it did truth telling.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
prevaricate (prɪˈværɪˌkeɪt)
 
—vb
(intr) to speak or act falsely or evasively with intent to deceive
 
[C16: from Latin praevāricārī to walk crookedly, from prae beyond + vāricare to straddle the legs; compare Latin vārus bent]
 
prevari'cation
 
—n
 
pre'varicator
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

prevarication
late 14c., "divergence from a right course, transgression," from O.Fr. prevaricacion (12c.), from L. praevaricationem (nom. praevaricatio) "a stepping out of line (of duty or behavior)," from praevaricatus, pp. of praevaricari "to make a sham accusation, deviate," lit. "walk crookedly," in Church L.,
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"to transgress," from prae "before" + varicare "to straddle," from varicus "straddling," from varus "bowlegged, knock-kneed." Meaning "evasion, quibbling" is attested from 1650s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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