tergiversation
/tɜːd͡ʒɪvəˈseɪʃən/US/tɝd͡ʒɪvɚˈseɪʃən/
tergiversation noun: the act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal.
Noun
tergiversation (countable and uncountable, plural tergiversations)
- The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal.
- They make their outward impudence their mask, as foxes, the better we may not see where they truly tend, nor their true black tergiversation beneath.1985, John Fowles, A Maggot
- The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous; equivocation; fickleness.
- Anyone who desires an hour's amusement may be advised to look up the tergiversations of eminent craniologists in their attempts to prove from brain measurements that women are stupider than men.1931, Bertrand Russell, The Scientific Outlook
Synonyms of tergiversation
- perfidy
- prodition
- betrayal
- breach of promise
- breach of trust
- double-dealing
- Judas kiss
- stab in the back
- treacherousness
- treachery
5 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of tergiversation
| plural | tergiversations |
|---|
Origin of tergiversation
From Latin tergiversātiō, from tergiversārī (“to turn one's back, to evade, to avoid”) + -tiō (“-tion: forming abstract nouns”). Equivalent to tergiversate + -ion.
Words that rhyme with tergiversation
- station
- collation
- accommodation
- presentation
- derivation
- information
- modulation
- translation
- application
- fixation
- generation
- orientation
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- citation
- combination
- communication
- conjugation
- constellation
- determination
- elevation
- operation
- relation
- reservation
- alternation
- condensation
- conversation
- deviation
- excavation
- foliation
- formation
- foundation
- incarnation
- interpretation
- representation
- retardation
- speculation
- termination
- abbreviation
- adaptation
- articulation
- bifurcation
- concentration
- congregation
- declination
- degradation
- expectation
- extenuation
- gradation
- observation
- population
- preparation
- reconciliation
- rotation
- separation
- situation
- vexation
- vindication
- accumulation
- administration
- aggregation
- appropriation
Questions about tergiversation
- What does tergiversation mean?
- Tergiversation means the act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal.
- What part of speech is tergiversation?
- Tergiversation is a noun.
- How do you pronounce tergiversation?
- Tergiversation is pronounced /tɝd͡ʒɪvɚˈseɪʃən/ (US).
- What is the plural of tergiversation?
- The plural of tergiversation is tergiversations.
Words near tergiversation in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tergiversation (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tergiversation.wav.
Cite this entry: “tergiversation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tergiversation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.