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单词 equivocate
释义

Definition of equivocate in English:

equivocate

verb ɪˈkwɪvəkeɪtəˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt
[no object]
  • Use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself.

    the government have equivocated too often in the past
    Example sentencesExamples
    • At least it is not, so long as we avoid equivocating on the notion of satisfying a desire.
    • A Wednesday news item on the Prime Minister's intention to refuse to accept a salary increase reveals another minister equivocating on the issue.
    • He has equivocated, frustrating even ardent supporters like Tauzin; and when he has finally acted, it has been to prolong rather than shorten the telecom slump.
    • In fact, Finlayson is a little wordy even with his own words, equivocating and hesitating to offer an opinion of his own, as if lacking in confidence.
    • Canadians are fundamentally suspicious of any party that appears to equivocate about rights.
    • In the 1950s and 1960s, the center equivocated during the great battles for civil rights.
    • They want justice to be seen to be done, particularly where perpetrators remained quiet, equivocated or evaded the truth.
    • I usually do quirky, or poignant, or lyrical - weak and equivocating.
    • They furrow their concerned brows and squint gravely towards the cameras in their field camo but all you hear is hedge and evade and dodge and divert and equivocate.
    • The law students squirmed and equivocated to avoid confronting my question.
    • You either love it or hate it, because this never equivocates.
    • In the face of interrogation by members of the committee, you waffled, equivocated, lied, feigned lack of memory, and even remained silent, in the face of the most probing questions.
    • It sounded like I was equivocating; that it wasn't a real apology.
    • The U.S. role has been equivocating for many years, because the United States has always seen Turkey as a key ally in a rough region, the Middle East.
    • Bishops obfuscate, cardinals equivocate and Church spokesmen prevaricate as the tide of media condemnation surges around them.
    • After kissing the subject, he just tapers off, equivocates, engages in euphemism.
    • After initially equivocating, the ruler finally expressed on 15 August 1947 a preference to join Pakistan.
    • Stupidity is brief and guileless, while wit equivocates and hides.
    • If he equivocates on the urgency to end the occupation, he's spirited in his insistence that the constitution will be Islamic.
    • How is it, then, that a man so unequivocal in his own yardstick for cultural superiority in all things, despite admitted unsavoury elements, suddenly equivocates like a fox when asked about censorship?
    Synonyms
    prevaricate, be evasive, be non-committal, be vague, be ambiguous, evade/dodge the issue, beat about the bush, hedge, hedge one's bets, fudge the issue
    fence, parry questions
    vacillate, shilly-shally, cavil, waver, quibble
    temporize, hesitate, stall (for time), shuffle about
    British hum and haw
    informal pussyfoot around, waffle, flannel, sit on the fence, duck the issue/question
    archaic palter
    rare tergiversate

Derivatives

  • equivocator

  • noun ɪˈkwɪvəkeɪtəəˈkwɪvəˌkeɪdər
    • A person who uses ambiguous language to conceal the truth or avoid commitment.

      equivocators on controversial social issues
      Example sentencesExamples
      • Like one equivocator who was well-known for her ability to fudge her forecasts, some of the psychics offered predictions for 2000 that were just as wishy-washy.
      • Paul Newman has played moral equivocators his entire career, whether they were good guys or bad.
      • Indeed, there's reason to hope that even the most benighted American moral equivocators may come to realize that the message of September is the exact opposite of the one they've been preaching.
  • equivocatory

  • adjective
    • He also contends that his qualification of the government's factual proffer, as described above, showed that he was "equivocatory" on entering the plea.
      Example sentencesExamples
      • It can be casually entertaining, dull but compelling because of its authorship or outrageously challenging an equivocatory, apologetic or blatantly misleading editorial.

Origin

Late Middle English (in the sense 'use a word in more than one sense'): from late Latin aequivocat- 'called by the same name', from the verb aequivocare, from aequivocus (see equivocal).

  • voice from Middle English:

    A word derived from Latin vox ‘voice’ and is related to vocabulary (mid 16th century), vocal (Middle English), vocation (Late Middle English), and vociferous (early 17th century), while the verb vocare ‘to call’ appears in convoke (late 16th century) ‘call together’; equivocate (Late Middle English) literally ‘call by the same name’; evoke (early 17th century) ‘call out’; invoke (Late Middle English) ‘call upon’; provoke (Late Middle English) ‘call forth’; revoke (Late Middle English) ‘call back’; and vouch (Middle English) and voucher (early 16th century). Vowel (Middle English) is from Old French vouel, from Latin vocalis (littera) ‘vocal (letter)’. The Latin root survives in vox pop, ‘an informal survey of people's opinion’, which is short for Latin vox populi or ‘voice of the people’. When people refer to an ignored advocate of reform as a voice in the wilderness they are echoing the words of John the Baptist proclaiming the coming of the Messiah: ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.’

 
 

Definition of equivocate in US English:

equivocate

verbəˈkwivəˌkātəˈkwɪvəˌkeɪt
[no object]
  • Use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself.

    with direct speech “Not that we are aware of,” she equivocated
    Example sentencesExamples
    • They furrow their concerned brows and squint gravely towards the cameras in their field camo but all you hear is hedge and evade and dodge and divert and equivocate.
    • I usually do quirky, or poignant, or lyrical - weak and equivocating.
    • A Wednesday news item on the Prime Minister's intention to refuse to accept a salary increase reveals another minister equivocating on the issue.
    • The U.S. role has been equivocating for many years, because the United States has always seen Turkey as a key ally in a rough region, the Middle East.
    • After initially equivocating, the ruler finally expressed on 15 August 1947 a preference to join Pakistan.
    • He has equivocated, frustrating even ardent supporters like Tauzin; and when he has finally acted, it has been to prolong rather than shorten the telecom slump.
    • At least it is not, so long as we avoid equivocating on the notion of satisfying a desire.
    • In fact, Finlayson is a little wordy even with his own words, equivocating and hesitating to offer an opinion of his own, as if lacking in confidence.
    • The law students squirmed and equivocated to avoid confronting my question.
    • They want justice to be seen to be done, particularly where perpetrators remained quiet, equivocated or evaded the truth.
    • In the face of interrogation by members of the committee, you waffled, equivocated, lied, feigned lack of memory, and even remained silent, in the face of the most probing questions.
    • Canadians are fundamentally suspicious of any party that appears to equivocate about rights.
    • Stupidity is brief and guileless, while wit equivocates and hides.
    • In the 1950s and 1960s, the center equivocated during the great battles for civil rights.
    • It sounded like I was equivocating; that it wasn't a real apology.
    • How is it, then, that a man so unequivocal in his own yardstick for cultural superiority in all things, despite admitted unsavoury elements, suddenly equivocates like a fox when asked about censorship?
    • Bishops obfuscate, cardinals equivocate and Church spokesmen prevaricate as the tide of media condemnation surges around them.
    • If he equivocates on the urgency to end the occupation, he's spirited in his insistence that the constitution will be Islamic.
    • After kissing the subject, he just tapers off, equivocates, engages in euphemism.
    • You either love it or hate it, because this never equivocates.
    Synonyms
    prevaricate, be evasive, be non-committal, be vague, be ambiguous, dodge the issue, evade the issue, beat about the bush, hedge, hedge one's bets, fudge the issue

Origin

Late Middle English (in the sense ‘use a word in more than one sense’): from late Latin aequivocat- ‘called by the same name’, from the verb aequivocare, from aequivocus (see equivocal).

 
 
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更新时间:2024/9/20 20:36:29