Word of the Day

: July 16, 2015

weasel word

noun WEE-zul-WERD

What It Means

: a word used in order to evade or retreat from a direct or forthright statement or position

weasel word in Context

Many people suspected that the politician's weasel words concealed a deeper agenda.

"Lesson: When your team messes up, take responsibility, fully and openly. No exculpatory clauses or weasel words." - Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe, March 4, 2015

Did You Know?

Some people believe that weasels can suck the insides out of an egg without damaging the shell, so that an egg thus weasel-treated would look fine on the outside but would actually be empty and useless. It was this supposed behavior on the part of the weasel that led people to start using weasel word to refer to any term intended to give the impression that everything is fine when the speaker is really trying to avoid answering a question, telling the truth, or taking the blame for something.