prevarications
Evasive untrue statements
Prevarications are statements that evade the truth without outright lying—evasions, half-truths, and misleading equivocations.
The word carries a formal or legalistic tone: The committee grew impatient with his prevarications.
Where a lie is a direct falsehood, a prevarication dances around it, technically avoiding the false statement while still deceiving.
Deliberate untruths
- falsehoodsDeliberate untruths
- untruthsAssertions contrary to fact
- fabricationsInvented untrue statements
- misrepresentationsUntrue depictions of reality
dishonesty · deceit · mendacity · fibs · half-truths · distortions · falsifications · deceptions
Deliberately ambiguous statements
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- deflectionChange in trajectory
avoidance · waffling · stalling · obfuscation · circumlocution · ambiguity · vagueness · fudging
Rapid rotation around axis
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- talking pointsPrepared discussion themes
- misspeakExpress oneself incorrectly
denial · coverup · damage control · gaslighting · revisionism · deflection · doublespeak · plausible deniability
Criminal courtroom dishonesty
- false testimonyLying while legally sworn
- misstatementIncorrect assertion of fact
- witness tamperingIllegally influencing trial observers
- suborningInducing someone to lie under oath
obstruction · fraud · false affidavit · testimony · cross-examination · impeachment · credibility · contradiction
lies
Deliberate untruths
- falsehoodsDeliberate untruths
- untruthsAssertions contrary to fact
- fabricationsInvented untrue statements
misrepresentations · dishonesty · deceit · mendacity · fibs · half-truths · distortions · falsifications · deceptions · duplicity
equivocations
Deliberately ambiguous statements
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
deflection · avoidance · waffling · stalling · obfuscation · circumlocution · ambiguity · vagueness · fudging · stonewalling
spin
Rapid rotation around axis
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- talking pointsPrepared discussion themes
misspeak · denial · coverup · damage control · gaslighting · revisionism · deflection · doublespeak · plausible deniability · contradiction
perjury
Criminal courtroom dishonesty
- false testimonyLying while legally sworn
- misstatementIncorrect assertion of fact
- witness tamperingIllegally influencing trial observers
suborning · obstruction · fraud · false affidavit · testimony · cross-examination · impeachment · credibility · contradiction · recantation
prevaricationstruths
Accurate statements about reality
facts · verities · confessions · gospel truth · plain facts
prevaricationscandor
Unguarded truthfulness
bluntness · straightforwardness · directness · transparency · forthrightness