tergiversation

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal.
2. (countable, uncountable) The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation; fickleness.

Synonyms

subterfuge

elusion

equivocation

apostasy

evasion

guile

inconstancy

instability

loophole

lubricity

mercurialness

mutability

prevarication

quibble

quirk

shift

skittishness

stall

treachery

volatileness

apostacy

deception

defection

dodge

Translations

sotterfugio

evasiva

dérobade

Ausflucht

υπεκφυγή

Ausflüchte

subtilesa

αστασία

apostasia

παλινωδία

Quiddität

apostasie

argutie

Spitzfindigkeit

tergiversació

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tɝd͡ʒɪvɚˈseɪʃən/

Etymology

From Latin tergiversātiō, from tergiversārī (“to turn one's back, to evade, to avoid”) + -tiō (“-tion: forming abstract nouns”). Equivalent to tergiversate + -ion.