TERGIVERSATION

apostasy, tergiversation

(noun) the act of abandoning a party for cause

equivocation, tergiversation

(noun) falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

tergiversation (countable and uncountable, plural tergiversations)

The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal.

The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation; fickleness.

Anagrams

• interrogatives, reinvestigator

Source: Wiktionary


Ter`gi*ver*sa"tion, n. Etym: [L. tergiversario: cf. F. tergiversation.]

1. The act of tergiversating; a shifting; shift; subterfuge; evasion. Writing is to be preferred before verbal conferences, as being freer from passions and tergiversations. Abp. Bramhall.

2. Fickleness of conduct; inconstancy; change. The colonel, after all his tergiversations, lost his life in the king's service. Clarendon.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

4 January 2025

RESURGE

(verb) rise again; “His need for a meal resurged”; “The candidate resurged after leaving politics for several years”


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