stonewalling
- noun
- /ˈstoʊnˌwɔːlɪŋ/
- Literature
- The investigation into the scandal was hampered by constant stonewalling from the officials involved.
- stonewalling and obfuscation
- stonewalling and evasion
- defensiveness and stonewalling
In fact, they exert their harm through silence and stonewalling and neglect.
- In fact, they exert their harm through silence and stonewalling and neglect.
- The four horsemen are criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, and contempt.
- He looked for disrespect, defensiveness, criticism and stonewalling.
- But certain negatives were much more predictive of relationship demise, and they were criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling.
Examples
-
But that belief evaporates shortly after residents face the kind of stonewalling experienced in Woburn.
Academic text (1993) -
After months of stonewalling, a FOIA lawsuit was filed against the Obama Treasury Department on January 27, 2009.
Blog text (1) -
The president badly needs to end the stonewalling and come clean
Blog text (8) -
No question, though; no Republican would get away with this sort of stonewalling.
Blog text (9) -
The Republicans in Congress, over the last 2 years, were doing their own special version of stonewalling!
Blog text (11) -
And the GOP will continue to blame it all on Obama, instead of their endless stonewalling.
Blog text (30) -
Obama can't gain much now by showing a birth certificate, but he can lose a lot by continued stonewalling.
Blog text (17) -
Why would Panetta and the White House use the stonewalling tactic with the House?
Blog text (14) -
The USA's stonewalling has put the treaty into a kind of limbo.
Blog text (6) -
Despite the law, obdurate Smithsonian personnel sought to frustrate Indian repatriation efforts with such tactics as stonewalling, deceit, and misinformation.
Academic text (1996)
Synonyms
A series of answers or actions that delay help
A deliberate delay used to gain more time
A way of slowing a process on purpose to stop change, often in politics
Delaying something on purpose to gain time or avoid a decision
Antonyms
How Obstructive
- Literature
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Stonewalling comes from the image of a stone wall, a strong solid barrier that stops people or movement. So, stonewalling means 'blocking' or 'refusing to answer', which is why it describes deliberate delay or refusal to cooperate.