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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

tergiversate.

To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner.

12 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈtɜːd͡ʒɪvəseɪt/UK/tɝˈd͡ʒɪvɝseɪt/US
  1. To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner.

    intransitive
  2. To change sides or affiliation; to apostatize.

    intransitive
  3. To flee by turning one's back.

    intransitive · rare
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Latin tergiversātus, perfect active participle of tergiversor (“to evade, to avoid, to turn one's back on”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from tergum (“back, hind”) + versor (“to turn”). Compare French tergiverser.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.