evasiveness
Slippery answer pattern
Evasiveness is the quality of deliberately avoiding direct answers or commitment.
An evasive person sidesteps questions, gives vague responses, or changes the subject: His evasiveness about where he'd been only made her more suspicious.
The word implies intent—evasiveness isn't confusion or ignorance but calculated deflection.
Absence of precision
- equivocationAmbiguous language avoiding commitment
- obscurityState of being unknown
- imprecisionLack of exactness
- indistinctnessLack of clarity
nebulosity · opaqueness · fuzziness · murkiness · indefiniteness · crypticness · inscrutability · obliqueness
Moving aside to avoid
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- circumventionAct of going around
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
- shirkingAvoiding obligatory tasks
eluding · ducking · skirting · bypassing · disengagement · distancing · stonewalling · runaround
Wary and restrained
- reservedRestrained in manner
- secretiveInclined to conceal
- tight-lippedUnwilling to divulge
- uncommunicativeUnwilling to share thoughts
closemouthed · taciturn · withholding · noncommittal · cautious · discreet · private · unforthcoming
Seeming dishonest or evasive
- cageyReluctant to share information
- slipperyLacking friction, hard-to-grasp
- sneakyStealthily deceptive
- deceptiveCreating false impressions
tricky · dissembling · insincere · unforthcoming · guarded · coy · misleading · disingenuous
vagueness
Absence of precision
- equivocationAmbiguous language avoiding commitment
- obscurityState of being unknown
- imprecisionLack of exactness
indistinctness · nebulosity · opaqueness · fuzziness · murkiness · indefiniteness · crypticness · inscrutability · obliqueness · hedging
sidestepping
Moving aside to avoid
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- circumventionAct of going around
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
shirking · eluding · ducking · skirting · bypassing · disengagement · distancing · stonewalling · runaround · brush-off
guarded
Wary and restrained
- reservedRestrained in manner
- secretiveInclined to conceal
- tight-lippedUnwilling to divulge
uncommunicative · closemouthed · taciturn · withholding · noncommittal · cautious · discreet · private · unforthcoming · cryptic
shifty
Seeming dishonest or evasive
- cageyReluctant to share information
- slipperyLacking friction, hard-to-grasp
- sneakyStealthily deceptive
deceptive · tricky · dissembling · insincere · unforthcoming · guarded · coy · misleading · disingenuous · duplicitous
maneuver
Deliberate tactical movement
subterfuge · misdirection · diversion · stratagem · artifice · ruse · deception · trickery · sleight · wile
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- avoidanceavoidance, distancing, dodging, pulling away, withdrawal
- stealthsneak, ninja, creep, spy, skulk
- survival traitscamouflage, stamina, endurance, resilience, adaptability
- cunningcunning, craftiness, crafty, guile, slyness
evasivenessdirectness
Quality of being straightforward
straightforwardness · forthrightness · bluntness · plainspokenness · explicitness
evasivenesscandor
Unguarded truthfulness
frankness · openness · honesty · transparency · sincerity
evasivenessforthrightness
Quality of being direct
accountability · owning up · facing the music · taking responsibility · standing one's ground
evade, elusive, evasion, evasive, evader, evasively, evasions, evasive action