tergiversate

• POS: Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: ter=gi=ver=sate

CIDE DICTIONARY

tergiversate, v. i. [L. tergiversatus, p. p. of tergiversari to turn one's back, to shift; tergum back + versare, freq. of vertere to turn. See Verse.].

 To shift; to practice evasion; to use subterfuges; to shuffle.  Bailey.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

tergiversate, v.intr.
1 be apostate; change one's party or principles.
2 equivocate; make conflicting or evasive statements.
3 turn one's back on something.

Derivative

tergiversation n. tergiversator n.

Etymology

L tergiversari turn one's back f. tergum back + vertere vers- turn

THESAURUS

tergiversate

alternate, apostatize, around the bush, back and fill, beat about, beg the question, bicker, boggle, cavil, change, choplogic, come round, desert, dither, do a flip-flop, do an about-face, dodge, duck, equivocate, evade, evade the issue, fence, fluctuate, have second thoughts, hedge, hem and haw, hum and haw, mince the truth, mince words, mystify, nitpick, obscure, oscillate, palter, parry, pendulate, pick nits, prevaricate, pussyfoot, quibble, rat, renounce, repudiate, shift, shilly-shally, shuffle, shy, sidestep, split hairs, teeter, totter, turn, vacillate, vary, waffle, waver, weasel, wheel, wobble