weaseling

verb

present participle of weasel
as in waffling
to avoid giving a definite answer or position the polite guest chose to weasel rather than admit that he didn't like the meal

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for weaseling
  1. waffling
  2. shaking
  3. hedging
  4. equivocating
  5. ducking
  6. dodging
  7. pussyfooting
  8. fudging
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
Verb
  • The brawl began when the players were shaking hands, just after Grayson defeated Carol City 10-9.
    — Austin Horn, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The hallmark signs include shaking or tremors, stiffness, slower movements and difficulty with balance or walking.
    — Jennifer Fields, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of shaking
Verb
  • Fernández moves well for his size and is a versatile defender who can guard the perimeter in switches or by hedging ball screens.
    — CJ Moore, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • But at least one longtime Pierre shareholder is hedging his bets.
    — Noah Shachtman, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of hedging
Verb
  • This was after much pressing and equivocating, number one.
    — CBS News, 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
Definition of equivocating
Verb
  • Meanwhile, Cooper is in Palm Springs, ducking the Better Business Bureau and reluctantly participating in his daughter’s documentary about his upbringing.
    — Ryan Chapman, Literary Hub, 30 Sep. 2026
  • And who will have to settle for simply drinking out of a coconut or ducking under stuff?
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of ducking
Verb
  • He's accused the Democrat of dodging questions about his own record and trying to distract voters with personal attacks.
    — AJC.com, AJC.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • As the car drives on while dodging a series of explosions, a seemingly endless number of terrorists armed with automatic weapons shoot at it to no avail.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of dodging
Verb
  • Fragments of story are fed to us, but there’s no forward thrust, just a lot of pussyfooting around.
    — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Alright Genesis, the time for pussyfooting is over.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of pussyfooting
Verb
  • Like, in the movie version, the person playing Raffensperger might be fudging results while eating his catered lunch.
    — Hanna Rosin, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026
  • For some of these inquiries, the read-in-between-the-lines accusation was that Neon is fudging the numbers.
    — Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 21 Apr. 2026
Definition of fudging
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

weaseled (out of)
weaseling
weaseling (out of)
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Cite this Entry

“Weaseling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/weaseling. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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