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
  • Near the epicenter, the agency estimated an intensity of VIII, classified as severe on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, which measures how strongly the ground shakes at individual locations.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Core Power protein shakes, sold under the Fairlife brand, will be available in banana and strawberry beginning in January, the first new flavors in almost a decade.
    — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 5 Oct. 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 19 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fervid

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
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
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All