Word.ws English Dictionary

weasel words

weasel words is the plural of weasel word.

Meaning of weasel word

Noun

weasel word (plural weasel words)

  1. (dated, derogatory) A word that negates or removes the meaning of the word it qualifies.
    • 1900. Century Magazine, quoted in Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1987)).
      Weasel words are words that suck all of the life out of the words next to them just as a weasel sucks an egg and leaves the shell.
  2. (derogatory) A word used to hedge a statement, for example to make it vague, equivocal, or misleading.
    • In scrapping HS2's eastern leg and descoping Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), Prime Minister Boris Johnson's frequent and unambiguous promises to build both have been exposed for the weasel words they were.2021 December 1, Nigel Harris, “IRP snuffs out 'levelling up'”, in RAIL, number 945, page 3
    Synonyms:
    hedge

See all 3 meanings of weasel word

Questions about weasel words

What is weasel words the plural of?
Weasel words is the plural of weasel word.

Words near weasel words in the dictionary

  1. weasel war dance
  2. weasel war dances
  3. weasel word
  4. weasel worded
  5. weasel wording
  6. weasel words
  7. weasel-faced
  8. weasel-like
  9. weaseled
  10. weaseled into
  11. weaseled one's way

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: weasel words (page history and authors); weasel word (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.

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