prevarication
/pɹɪˌvæɹ.ɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.90 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
5
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Prevarication became the order of the day in his government while truth was a stranger in those halls."
- "The trumpet—vvill it ſound? the curtain riſe? And ſhow th' auguſt tribunal of the ſkies, / VVhere no prevarication ſhall avail, / VVhere eloquence and artifice ſhall fail, […]"
- "The prevarication and white lies which a mind that keeps itself ambitiously pure is as uneasy under as a great artist under the false touches that no eye detects but his own, are worn as lightly as mere trimmings when once the actions have become a lie."
- "Mr Rajoy frustrates many with his prevarication over a fresh euro-zone bail-out, which now comes with a conditional promise from the European Central Bank (ECB) to help bring down Spain’s stifling borrowing costs."
- "If it shall appeare, that they haue forfeited their Faith, or wronged their Client by preuarication."
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin praevāricātiō (“collusion with an opponent; duplicity, deceit; violation of duty, transgression”, literally “stepping out of line”), from praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; go astray; transgress”) + -tās. The virtually obsolete sense of deviation or transgression may have been influenced by an earlier stage of borrowing via Middle English prevaricacioun, prevaricacion (“deviation from the law; transgression”) from Anglo-Norman prevaricaciun (“transgression, violation of correct conduct”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: prevaricacioun, prevaricaciun