Tergiversate
verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner. intransitive
"The officials soon concluded that the easiest way to remain on good terms with the court was to elude responsibility, to tergiversate, to prevent results."
- 2 abandon one's beliefs or allegiances wordnet
- 3 To change sides or affiliation; to apostatize. intransitive
"Henry had hesitated before authorising the spoliation; he would soon tergiversate on other matters of doctrine but this act was irreversible."
- 4 be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information wordnet
- 5 To flee by turning one's back. intransitive, rare
Example
More examples"The officials soon concluded that the easiest way to remain on good terms with the court was to elude responsibility, to tergiversate, to prevent results."
Etymology
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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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.