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prevarication

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prevarication

  • /pɹɪˌvæɹ.ɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
  • /pɹɪˌvæɹ.əˈkeɪ.ʃən/

Rhymes with -eɪʃən

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Latin praevāricātiō (“collusion with an opponent; duplicity, deceit; violation of duty, transgression”, literally “stepping out of line”), from praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; go astray; transgress”) + -tās. The virtually obsolete sense of deviation or transgression may have been influenced by an earlier stage of borrowing via Middle English prevaricacioun, prevaricacion (“deviation from the law; transgression”) from Anglo-Norman prevaricaciun (“transgression, violation of correct conduct”).

noun prevarications

  1. countable, uncountable Evasion of the truth. Prevarication became the order of the day in his government while truth was a stranger in those halls.

    Similar: deceit, evasiveness

  2. archaic, countable, uncountable Deviation from what is right or correct.

    Similar: transgression, perversion

  3. countable, uncountable A secret abuse in the exercise of a public office.
  4. Ancient Rome, countable, historical, uncountable The collusion of an informer with the defendant, for the purpose of making a sham prosecution.
  5. countable, uncountable A false or deceitful seeming to undertake a thing for the purpose of defeating or destroying it. If it shall appeare, that they haue forfeited their Faith, or wronged their Client by preuarication.

Translations

Every language

noun deceit, evasiveness

Españolprevaricación
Portuguêsprevaricação
Françaissubterfuge, faux-fuyant, échappatoire, dérobade
DeutschAusflucht, Tatsachenverdrehung, Wahrheitsverzerrung
Italianoprevaricazione

noun deviation from what is right or correct

Españolprevaricación
Portuguêsprevaricação
Françaisprévarication
DeutschVerfehlung, Übertretung, Verstoß
Italianoprevaricazione

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MLA

"prevarication." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prevarication. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

prevarication. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prevarication

Chicago

"prevarication." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prevarication.

BibTeX
@misc{prevarication_2026,
  title = {prevarication},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prevarication},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}