tergiversate
[verb]
Synonyms: defect, apostatize, desert, rat, renounce, repudiate, tergiverse, turn, equivocate, dodge, evade, hedge, pussyfoot, shuffle, sidestep, weasel

---

Related Idioms: fall away from, beg the question

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

tergiversate verb

1. [intransitive] to make statements that deliberately hide the truth or that avoid answering a question directly

   Definitions on the go

   Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

2. [intransitive] to remove your support from one person, group, or religion and begin to support another
Word Originmid 17th cent.: from Latin tergiversat- ‘with one's back turned’, from the verb tergiversari, from tergum ‘back’ + vertere ‘to turn’.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲