equivocate: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

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Word of the Day for Monday, September 21, 2009 equivocate \ih-KWIV-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb: To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or to avoid committing oneself to anything definite. The witness shuffled, equivocated, pretended to misunderstand the questions. -- Thomas Babington Macaulay, History of England By equivocating, hesitating, and giving ambiguous answers, she effected her purpose. -- Harriet Martineau, Letters from Ireland Dr. Lindzen does not equivocate. "We don't have any evidence that this is a serious problem," he says flatly. -- William K. Stevens, "Skeptic Asks, Is It Really Warmer?", New York Times, June 17, 1996 To equivocate is literally to call equally one thing or the other: It comes from Medieval Latin aequivocare, from the Latin aequus, equal + vocare, to call (from Latin vox, voice). Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for equivocate Yesterday's Word - Previous Words - Help
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