prevaricates

Prevaricates is a verb meaning to speak or act in an evasive way. It often implies a deliberate attempt to avoid telling the truth or to mislead someone without outright lying. This can involve using ambiguous language, changing the subject, or offering half-truths.

The word originates from the Latin verb "praevaricari," which means to walk crookedly or to deviate. Historically, it was used in a legal context to describe a prosecutor who colluded with the defendant. Over time, its meaning evolved to encompass a broader sense of evasion and indirectness in communication.

Someone who prevaricates might not be explicitly lying, but they are not being fully transparent either. They might be trying to buy time, avoid responsibility, or protect themselves from negative consequences. The intention behind prevarication is usually to deceive or obscure the truth.

Examples of prevarication include a politician giving a non-committal answer to a difficult question, a child deflecting blame by pointing to someone else, or an employee avoiding a direct answer about a project's failure. In essence, prevarication is a form of verbal maneuvering to avoid direct engagement with a sensitive topic or to skirt the edges of the truth.