Tergiversate

Pronunciation: /tərˈdʒɪvərˌseɪt/

Definitions of tergiversate

verb to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; equivocate

Example Sentences

A1 I don't like when people tergiversate and don't stick to their word.

A2 She always tergiversates when it comes to making decisions.

B1 Politicians often tergiversate in order to avoid taking a firm stance on controversial issues.

B2 The company's CEO was known to tergiversate when asked about the financial situation of the company.

C1 The lawyer's ability to tergiversate during cross-examination was impressive.

C2 Despite the mounting evidence against him, the defendant continued to tergiversate in court.

Examples of tergiversate in a Sentence

formal The politician was known to tergiversate when faced with tough questions.

informal Don't try to tergiversate your way out of this situation.

slang Stop tergiversating and just tell me the truth.

figurative His constant tergiversation made it hard to trust anything he said.

Grammatical Forms of tergiversate

• past tense: tergiversated
• plural: tergiversates
• comparative: more tergiversate
• superlative: most tergiversate
• present tense: tergiversates
• future tense: will tergiversate
• perfect tense: have tergiversated
• continuous tense: is tergiversating
• singular: tergiversate
• positive degree: tergiversate
• infinitive: to tergiversate
• gerund: tergiversating
• participle: tergiversating

Origin and Evolution of tergiversate

First Known Use: 1586 year

Language of Origin: Latin

Story behind the word: The word 'tergiversate' originated from the Latin word 'tergiversari', which means to show reluctance or to turn one's back.

Evolution of the word: Originally used to describe someone who changes sides or opinions frequently, the word 'tergiversate' has evolved to also mean to be evasive or to use tricky language to avoid a direct answer.