prevaricator
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9.9
- noun
- /prɪˈværɪˌkeɪtər/
- Formal
:
prevaricador
- As a skilled prevaricator, she could easily twist the truth to suit her needs.
That was my job, you know, to be a facile prevaricator.
- That was my job, you know, to be a facile prevaricator.
Examples
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Are you one of those trained prevaricators, Erica?
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Andrew Mendelson is a flim-flam artist and a constant prevaricator.
Blog text (26) -
A key characteristic of the prevaricator is that he/she/it believes nothing except that you are fool enough to believe everything he/she/it tells you.
Blog text (11) -
Are they merely pathological, glib prevaricators to whom we should feel great sympathy or even empathy?
Blog text (7) -
She is a falsifier, fibber, perjurer, prevaricator, storyteller; in sum, she is a liar!
Blog text (28) -
The politician was known as a prevaricator, often dodging questions instead of answering them directly.
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Everyone recognized him as a prevaricator because he always found ways to avoid giving a straight answer.
Synonyms
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1.0
A person who often says things that are not true
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9.9
A person who often lies and makes up stories to impress or trick people
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8.6
A person who gives vague answers to avoid making a clear decision
A person who avoids clear answers and refuses to say yes or no
A person who avoids clear answers and talks about something else
A person who avoids giving a clear yes-or-no answer
A person who hides true feelings or plans by saying things they do not mean
A person who makes faults or bad news sound better
Antonyms
How Direct
- Formal
- Formal
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9.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
prevaricator = prevaricate (opaque) = pre + varic + ator
The suffix '-or' indicates a person who performs an action, but the base 'prevaricate' is not transparently derived from recognizable English morphemes.
Etymology
Prevaricator comes from an old Latin word made of pre- and varicare, meaning 'to step aside' or 'to walk crookedly'. So a prevaricator is someone who 'steps aside' from the truth and does not give a straight answer.