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prevaricate

verb

Synonyms and Antonyms of prevaricate

to make a statement one knows to be untrue
  • during the hearings the witness was willing to prevaricate in order to protect his friend
Synonyms of prevaricate

fabricate, fib, lie
Words Related to prevaricate

forswear (also foreswear), perjure

equivocate, fudge, palter

beguile, cozen, deceive, delude, dupe, fool, gull, hoax, hoodwink, kid, snow, take in, trick

defame, libel, slander, traduce

falsify, misreport, misrepresent, misstate

distort, garble

dissemble, dissimulate

misguide, misinform, mislead
Near Antonyms of prevaricate

assert, swear, testify

authenticate, confirm, substantiate, validate, verify

Synonym Discussion of prevaricate

lie, prevaricate, equivocate, palter, fib mean to tell an untruth. lie is the blunt term, imputing dishonesty.
    • lied about where he had been
prevaricate softens the bluntness of lie by implying quibbling or confusing the issue.
    • during the hearings the witness did his best to prevaricate
equivocate implies using words having more than one sense so as to seem to say one thing but intend another.
    • equivocated endlessly in an attempt to mislead her inquisitors
palter implies making unreliable statements of fact or intention or insincere promises.
    • a swindler paltering with his investors
fib applies to a telling of a trivial untruth.
    • fibbed about the price of the new suit

Learn More about prevaricate

  1. See words that rhyme with prevaricate Dictionary: Definition of prevaricate Spanish Central: Translation of prevaricate Nglish: Translation of prevaricate for Spanish speakers

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