temporizes
Plays for time
Temporizes means to delay or act evasively to gain time, avoid commitment, or wait for circumstances to change.
Someone who temporizes stalls rather than making a decision: The committee temporized for months while the crisis deepened.
The word often carries a negative connotation of weakness or political calculation—choosing expedience over principle.
Boundary of planted shrubs
- equivocateSpeak vaguely to mislead
- prevaricateSpeak misleadingly to deceive
- sidestepEvade by moving aside
- dodgeAvoid by quick movement
circumvent · deflect · parry · duck · waffle · fudge · stonewall · obfuscate
Delaying tactic through speech
- maneuverDeliberate tactical movement
- calculatedFigured out mathematically
- strategicDeliberately planned for advantage
- expedientUseful if not ideal
stopgap · interim · makeshift · provisional · opportunistic · diplomatic · politic · cagey
Enclosed compartment or delay
- procrastinateDelay action unnecessarily
- delayEnforced waiting period
- postponeDelay to later time
- deferDelay or submit
dawdle · linger · tarry · drag · protract · adjourn · suspend · shelve
Hesitate or fluctuate
- vacillateWaver between choices
- ditherNervous inability to choose
- hesitatePause in uncertainty
- falterLose momentum or steadiness
oscillate · fluctuate · teeter · shilly-shally · ambivalence · uncertainty · indecision · irresolution
Provide for or adjust
- adaptModify for new conditions
- yieldProduce or relinquish
- concedeAdmit something reluctantly
- negotiateDiscuss to reach agreement
appease · placate · conciliate · mollify · compromise · expedience · pragmatic · flexible
hedge
Boundary of planted shrubs
- equivocateSpeak vaguely to mislead
- prevaricateSpeak misleadingly to deceive
- sidestepEvade by moving aside
dodge · circumvent · deflect · parry · duck · waffle · fudge · stonewall · obfuscate · avoid
filibuster
Delaying tactic through speech
- maneuverDeliberate tactical movement
- calculatedFigured out mathematically
- strategicDeliberately planned for advantage
expedient · stopgap · interim · makeshift · provisional · opportunistic · diplomatic · politic · cagey · noncommittal
stall
Enclosed compartment or delay
- procrastinateDelay action unnecessarily
- delayEnforced waiting period
- postponeDelay to later time
defer · dawdle · linger · tarry · drag · protract · adjourn · suspend · shelve · pause
waver
Hesitate or fluctuate
falter · oscillate · fluctuate · teeter · shilly-shally · ambivalence · uncertainty · indecision · irresolution · fence-sitting
accommodate
Provide for or adjust
negotiate · appease · placate · conciliate · mollify · compromise · expedience · pragmatic · flexible · trimming
temporizesdecides
Reaches a conclusion
commits · takes action · resolves · moves forward · takes the plunge
temporize, temporizing, extemporize, temporized, temporizer, extemporized, temporization, contemporize, extemporizes