EQUIVOCATING Synonyms: 84 Similar and Opposite Words

equivocating 1 of 2

adjective

as in pretending

Related Words

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Dissimilar Words

equivocating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of equivocate

as in weaseling

to avoid giving a definite answer or position the candidate equivocated as long as he could on controversial issues

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of equivocating

Adjective

Yet Hiller’s latest equivocating mea culpa, with the now-familiar language of hardship and defeatism so unbecoming of a professional hockey team, rang unconvincing. — Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026

Verb

This was after much pressing and equivocating, number one. — CBS News, 29 Mar. 2026 But the judge’s equivocating ruling in that piracy case created a loophole, according to Anthropic’s lawyers. — James Folta, Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026 While Abigail Spanberger stood with her running mate Jay Jones and his murderous fantasies, and evaded every direct question including equivocating over men being in locker rooms with girls. — Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 11 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for equivocating

Adjective

There can be no more pretending, briefing or hiding.

— Harry De Cosemo, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025

Definition of pretending

Verb

Barra has since navigated a global pandemic, tariffs and supply-chain chaos, and the rise of AI as an unstoppable and industry-shaking force.

— Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026
For months before today’s launch, Google has been anticipating those problems on Earth, shaking spacecraft to simulate the launch and bombarding its chips with proton beams to test their response to radiation.

— Peter Hall, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of shaking

Adjective

And members of these new churches were mostly not the black-dressed, hypocritical, sour-faced, monocultural figures favored by popular narrative, but often included colorful figures who were sometimes surprisingly modern in their desires.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
There is something deeply hypocritical about discovering and using the language of women’s liberation only when your own status, reputation, or income is at stake.

— Laura Jung, Vogue, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of hypocritical

Verb

The tournament’s special status — its unwillingness to place any person above the sport — is part of why Williams wanted to play singles, not just doubles with her sister Venus, after waffling on the decision.

— Ava Wallace, New York Times, 30 June 2026
Nothing kills momentum faster than waffling on a big decision.

— Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 23 Feb. 2026

Definition of waffling

Adjective

In Bird and Goldmark’s account (these collaborators are also married), the nihilistic, amoral, duplicitous, power-seeking Roy Marcus Cohn makes Niccolò Machiavelli seem like a rank amateur.

— Martin Filler, The New York Review of Books, 15 Sep. 2026
But as with any good Leonard story, the best moments come from the characters, a rogues’ gallery of violent ruffians and neurotic, duplicitous scoundrels.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of duplicitous

Adjective

Leigh feared the tracks might be too arch, too pretentious, too insincere.

— Josephine Reisman, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2026
After the ceremony, Lewandowski spoke to Polish football show Moc Futbolu and reportedly labeled Messi’s Ballon d’Or speech as insincere.

— Felipe Cardenas, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of insincere

Adjective

Companies often overoptimize to say the safest possible thing and end up sounding evasive or inhuman.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
If responsibilization in one sense means accepting forms of self-monitoring and self-deprivation, taking responsibility in carbon accounting can also be an evasive maneuver.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of evasive

Adjective

These small transgressions added up to a sense of ourselves as special, exempt from the rules—but also disliked, distrusted, untrustworthy, apart.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
Further, the firm’s rationale for ignoring the threat seemed untrustworthy.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of untrustworthy

Browse Nearby Words

equivocates

equivocating

equivocation

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“Equivocating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/equivocating. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of equivocating

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

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