MEANING
To speak ambiguously or evasively so as to avoid a definite answer or commitment.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- equivocate about a promise
- refuse to equivocate
On the page
Pressed for a date, he equivocated about what completion meant.
She refused to equivocate when asked whether the warning had been received.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- equivocate
- Past tense
- equivocated
- Past participle
- equivocated
- Present participle
- equivocating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- equivocate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are equivocating
- Present perfect
- have/has equivocated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been equivocating
- Past
- equivocated
- Past continuous
- was/were equivocating
- Past perfect
- had equivocated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been equivocating
- Future
- will equivocate
- Future continuous
- will be equivocating
- Future perfect
- will have equivocated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been equivocating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: psychological / character. Forms: equivocate; equivocates; equivocated; equivocated; equivocating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: equivocates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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