EQUIVOCATION
Dictionary entry overview: What does equivocation mean?
• EQUIVOCATION (noun)
The noun EQUIVOCATION has 3 senses:
1. a statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
2. intentionally vague or ambiguous
3. falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language
Familiarity information: EQUIVOCATION used as a noun is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• EQUIVOCATION (noun)
Meaning:
A statement that is not literally false but that cleverly avoids an unpleasant truth
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
equivocation; evasion
Hypernyms ("equivocation" is a kind of...):
deceit; deception; misrepresentation (a misleading falsehood)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "equivocation"):
circumlocution; indirect expression (an indirect way of expressing something)
doublespeak (any language that pretends to communicate but actually does not)
hedge; hedging (an intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement)
cavil; quibble; quiddity (an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections)
Meaning:
Intentionally vague or ambiguous
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
evasiveness; equivocation; prevarication
Hypernyms ("equivocation" is a kind of...):
ambiguity; equivocalness (unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning)
untruthfulness (the quality of being untruthful)
Meaning:
Falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
tergiversation; equivocation
Hypernyms ("equivocation" is a kind of...):
falsification; misrepresentaation (a willful perversion of facts)
