nondenial
Refusal to refute
A nondenial is a response to an accusation or question that appears to address it without actually denying the core claim.
Politicians and spokespersons often issue nondenials when they can't truthfully deny something but want to deflect: His statement was a classic nondenial—he expressed outrage without ever saying he didn't do it.
The related phrase is "nondenial denial."
Understood without words
- unspokenNot verbally expressed
- indirectNot straight or immediate
- inferredConcluded from indirect evidence
- impliedSuggested without stating
silent · unvoiced · unarticulated · subtextual · veiled · allusive · connoted · insinuated
Act of escaping detection
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
obfuscation · misdirection · equivocation · hedging · non-answer · spin · redirection · stonewalling
Entry or confession
- concessionYielding a point
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
- acceptanceConsent to receive
- acquiescenceUnresisting acceptance
confirmation · validation · nod · assent · compliance · yielding · capitulation · surrender
tacit
Understood without words
- unspokenNot verbally expressed
- indirectNot straight or immediate
- inferredConcluded from indirect evidence
implied · silent · unvoiced · unarticulated · subtextual · veiled · allusive · connoted · insinuated · suggested
evasion
Act of escaping detection
- deflectionChange in trajectory
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
avoidance · obfuscation · misdirection · equivocation · hedging · non-answer · spin · redirection · stonewalling
admission
Entry or confession
- concessionYielding a point
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
- acceptanceConsent to receive
acquiescence · confirmation · validation · nod · assent · compliance · yielding · capitulation · surrender · allowing
nondenialdenial
Refusal to accept reality
refutation · rejection · disavowal · rebuttal · repudiation
nondenialadmission
Entry or confession
confession · acknowledgment · confirmation · affirmation · concession
- nondenial denialStatement seeming to rebut without actually rebutting
denial, deny, denies, denied, denying, deniable, undeniable, undeniably, denier