equivocators
Masters of ambiguity
Equivocators are people who speak ambiguously to avoid committing to a position or to deceive without technically lying.
The term carries strong negative connotations—equivocators are seen as slippery, evasive, or dishonest: Politicians are notorious equivocators.
Shakespeare's porter in Macbeth famously imagines equivocators in hell.
Tellers of falsehoods
- prevaricatorsThose who lie deliberately
- dissemblersThose who hide intentions
- fabricatorsCreators of falsehoods
- deceiversThose who mislead intentionally
falsifiers · fibbers · hypocrites · impostors · charlatans · frauds · con artists · tricksters
Risk-mitigating investors or pruners
- dodgersThose who evade
- fence-sittersPeople refusing to choose
- wafflersIndecisive people
- prevaricatorsThose who lie deliberately
sidestepping · circumlocution · vagueness · noncommittal · cagey · slippery · elusive · indirect
Foreign government representatives
- politiciansElected government representatives
- spokespersonsOfficial organizational communicators
- punditsExpert commentators on affairs
- spin doctorsPR damage controllers
lobbyists · bureaucrats · lawyers · doublespeak · plausible deniability · weasel words · non-answers · talking points
liars
Tellers of falsehoods
- prevaricatorsThose who lie deliberately
- dissemblersThose who hide intentions
- fabricatorsCreators of falsehoods
deceivers · falsifiers · fibbers · hypocrites · impostors · charlatans · frauds · con artists · tricksters · hoaxers
hedgers
Risk-mitigating investors or pruners
- dodgersThose who evade
- fence-sittersPeople refusing to choose
- wafflersIndecisive people
prevaricators · sidestepping · circumlocution · vagueness · noncommittal · cagey · slippery · elusive · indirect · skirting
diplomats
Foreign government representatives
- politiciansElected government representatives
- spokespersonsOfficial organizational communicators
- punditsExpert commentators on affairs
spin doctors · lobbyists · bureaucrats · lawyers · doublespeak · plausible deniability · weasel words · non-answers · talking points · backpedaling
schemers
Crafty plot makers
- conniversPeople secretly plotting together
- calculatingColdly self-serving in strategy
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
crafty · wily · guileful · shrewd · artful · insidious · sly · foxy · slick · spin doctors
vague
Unclear, ill-defined
nebulous · muddled · enigmatic · opaque · indistinct · imprecise · wordplay · misleading · confusing · puzzling
- Indecisive peoplewaverers, wafflers, ditherers, hesitators, fence sitters
- deceiversliar, liars, deceiver, fraud, fake
equivocatorsstraight talkers
People who communicate directly
straight shooters · partisans · true believers · stalwarts · hardliners