tergiversation
Turning one's back
Tergiversation is evasion or equivocation—the act of being deliberately vague or changing one's position to avoid commitment.
The word carries a whiff of betrayal, suggesting someone who abandons a cause or shifts allegiances out of expedience rather than conviction.
His tergiversation on the issue frustrated both sides of the debate.
The term is formal and rarely encountered outside legal or literary contexts.
Abandoning one's loyalty
- renunciationFormal surrender of claim
- desertionUnlawful abandonment of duty
- abandonmentAct of leaving permanently
- betrayalBreaking of trust
recantation · abjuration · disavowal · backsliding · turncoat · renegade · repudiation · forsaking
Misleading speech avoiding directness
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
- circumlocutionIndirect, wordy expression
obfuscation · waffling · fudging · quibbling · paltering · dodging · vagueness · sophistry
Deliberate misleading behavior
- dissemblingConcealing true motives
- disingenuousnessPretended ignorance or naivety
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
- chicaneryDeception through clever manipulation
guile · deceit · falsification · misrepresentation · dishonesty · fabrication · artifice · manipulation
defection
Abandoning one's loyalty
- renunciationFormal surrender of claim
- desertionUnlawful abandonment of duty
- abandonmentAct of leaving permanently
betrayal · recantation · abjuration · disavowal · backsliding · turncoat · renegade · repudiation · forsaking · disloyalty
prevarication
Misleading speech avoiding directness
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
- doublespeakDeliberately misleading language
circumlocution · obfuscation · waffling · fudging · quibbling · paltering · dodging · vagueness · sophistry · caviling
duplicity
Deliberate misleading behavior
- dissemblingConcealing true motives
- disingenuousnessPretended ignorance or naivety
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
chicanery · guile · deceit · falsification · misrepresentation · dishonesty · fabrication · artifice · manipulation · insincerity
tergiversationdirectness
Quality of being straightforward
straightforwardness · candor · forthrightness · frankness · plainness
tergiversationsteadfastness
Firm loyal dedication
loyalty · constancy · fidelity · faithfulness · allegiance