1. to speak or act in an evasive way; to avoid telling the truth directly
Usage: formal

Examples

• The witness continued to prevaricate when asked about his whereabouts.
• Stop prevaricating and give me a straight answer.
• Politicians often prevaricate when confronted with difficult questions.
• She prevaricated for several minutes before finally admitting her mistake.
• The defendant’s tendency to prevaricate made the jury suspicious.
• Rather than prevaricate, he decided to tell the complete truth.