Word of the Day: PREVARICATE

Evading the truth

prevaricate (verb) - to stray from or to avoid telling the truth; to equivocate or lie [pri-var-i-keyt]

• prevarication is the act or result of deliberately misstating the truth; a falsehood

• a prevaricator is one who doesn't tell the complete truth

BREAKDOWN: One would think that the word prevaricate derives from the common base VARI- meaning bend or change in words like variable or varicolored. Instead, its origin is the Latin praevāricārī meaning to straddle something,:

PRE- (before) + VARIC- (to straddle) + -ATE (to do)

In this case, a speaker is strenuously straddling the truth in an effort to avoid it.

“Lying is the same as alcoholism. Liars prevaricate even on their deathbeds.” —Anton Chekhov

[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]