tergiversates

verb

present tense third-person singular of tergiversate
as in weasels
to avoid giving a definite answer or position shamelessly tergiversating, the witness replied, "Well, it depends upon what your definition of 'truth' is"

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tergiversates
  1. shakes
  2. hedges
Verb
  • As to whether Sassnitz shakes off its nicknames from last year, that partly depends on what happens this weekend.
    — Andrew Rice, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The Democratic Party on Saturday officially set its 2028 presidential primary calendar, shakes it up a bit, and puts six states now in the mix to be voting before March of 2028.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of shakes
Verb
  • Apple hedges across the supply chain, but these price rises illustrate systemic long-term pressure rather than short-term variations.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
  • For example, low-cost Irish airline Ryanair currently hedges 80% of its jet fuel costs, giving them a significant competitive advantage when fuel prices increase.
    — Tiago Ventura, Time, 26 June 2026
Definition of hedges
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.

Browse Nearby Words

tergiversated
tergiversates
tergiversating
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Tergiversates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tergiversates. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All