equivocate means to speak using double meaning; to speak ambiguously, unclearly or doubtfully, with intent to deceive; to vacillate in one's answers, responding with equivoques. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why this word is great
EQUIVOCATE — [Verb] To use ambiguous or unclear language, especially to avoid commitment or to deceive. From Late Middle English equivocaten, from Medieval Latin aequivocātus, from Late Latin aequivocus ("ambiguous, equivocal"), from aequi- ("equal") + vocare ("to call"). Unlike "prevaricate," which deliberately deviates into falsehood, or "vacillate," which wobbles in honest indecision, to equivocate is to dwell deliberately in the murk of language. It is the politician's non-denial denial that hangs in the air like woodsmoke, the crafted corporate statement that dissolves under scrutiny, the lover's vague promise that feels in the moment like both a lifeline and a farewell—the art of making language a refuge from truth, where safety lies in the fertile, ungovernable space between definitions.
verb
- To speak using double meaning; to speak ambiguously, unclearly or doubtfully, with intent to deceive; to vacillate in one's answers, responding with equivoques.“Knock. Knock, knock. Who's there in th'other Deuils Name? Faith here's an Equiuocator, that could ſweare in both the Scales againſt eyther Scale, who committed Treaſon enough for Gods ſake, yet could not equiuocate to Heauen: oh come in, Equiuocator.”
- To render equivocal or ambiguous.“He equivocated his vow by a mental reservation”