- the act of prevaricating, or lying: Seeing the expression on his mother's face, Nathan realized this was no time for prevarication.
- a false or deliberate misstatement; lie: Her many prevarications had apparently paid off; she was free to go.
Examples from the Web for prevarication
Calendar, he believed, was capable of prevarication, polite and impolite.The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance
There was no prevarication or difficulty with the only witness examined.Memoirs of the Court of George IV. 1820-1830 (Vol 1)
Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
He had so ingenious a manner of prevarication that he actually believed his own tales.A Pirate of Parts
I scorn a lie—my prayer is to leave every prevarication behind.Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 13
Mind, I must have truthful and straightforward answers—no prevarication.'Aunt Mary
Word Origin and History for prevarication
late 14c., "divergence from a right course, transgression," from Old French prevaricacion "breaking of God's laws, disobedience (to the Faith)" (12c., Modern French prévarication) and directly from Latin praevaricationem (nominative praevaricatio) "duplicity, collusion, a stepping out of line (of duty or behavior)," noun of action from past participle stem of praevaricari "to make a sham accusation, deviate," literally "walk crookedly," in Church Latin, "to transgress," from prae "before" (see pre-) + varicare "to straddle," from varicus "straddling," from varus "bowlegged, knock-kneed" (see varus). Meaning "evasion, quibbling" is attested from 1650s.