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
  • White slammed Garry for shaking hands and embracing Makhachev before the final round.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Yohanna Embu, a resident of Sikka, a regency in East Nusa Tenggara, said a number of buildings were damaged by the strong shaking and panicked people ran to higher ground.
    — Yacob Herin, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of shaking
Verb
  • Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are hedging their bets on victories in red states – Iowa, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio and yes, Alaska – to help flip the upper chamber and hand back control to the party.
    — Jay Stahl, USA Today, 17 Aug. 2026
  • That hasn’t fully panned out, and now the company is hedging its bets with an underdog strategy focused on releasing more lightweight models with fewer guardrails.
    — Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 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
  • Coming up, the mounting questions about that elaborate ruse that had the president ducking into a catering truck to switch planes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Larkin has used Moskowitz’s refusal to appear with him to accuse the reelection-seeking congressman of ducking debates and avoiding the voters.
    — Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of ducking
Verb
  • Because the sites are generally located at least 100 feet away from any trails, visiting them can require bushwhacking through swampy terrain or dense undergrowth, dodging branches and the occasional cobweb.
    — John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 14 Aug. 2026
  • More crazy headlines have followed, from coaches wearing pro-trans-kids shirts to Caitlin Clark dodging questions about her own views on trans athletes.
    — Payton McNabb OutKick, FOXNews.com, 10 Aug. 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 20 Aug. 2026.

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