weasel word
a word used to temper the forthrightness of a statement; a word that makes one's views equivocal, misleading, or confusing.
Origin of weasel word
1Other words from weasel word
- weasel-worded, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use weasel word in a sentence
Note the weasel words (a term they do actually teach in law school): “affected community.”
Facebook Apologizes For, but Doesn’t Retract, Discriminatory ‘Real Name’ Policy | Jay Michaelson | October 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Other Idioms and Phrases with weasel word
A word used to deprive a statement of its force or evade a direct commitment, as in Calling it “organized spontaneity” is using a weasel word; “organized” has sucked the meaning out of “spontaneity.” This idiom may allude to the weasel's habit of sucking the contents out of a bird's egg, so that only the shell remains. [Late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse