{"id": "prevaricate", "metadata": {"operation": "retrieve", "provider": "Oxford University Press", "schema": "RetrieveEntry"}, "results": [{"id": "prevaricate", "language": "en-gb", "lexicalEntries": [{"derivatives": [{"id": "prevarication", "text": "prevarication"}, {"id": "prevaricator", "text": "prevaricator"}], "entries": [{"etymologies": ["mid 16th century (earlier (Middle English) as prevarication and prevaricator), in the sense \u2018go astray, transgress\u2019: from Latin praevaricat- \u2018walked crookedly, deviated\u2019, from the verb praevaricari, from prae \u2018before\u2019 + varicari \u2018straddle\u2019"], "grammaticalFeatures": [{"id": "intransitive", "text": "Intransitive", "type": "Subcategorization"}], "notes": [{"text": "The verbs prevaricate and procrastinate have similar but not identical meanings. Prevaricate means \u2018act or speak in an evasive way\u2019, as in he prevaricated at the mention of money. Procrastinate, on the other hand, means \u2018put off doing something\u2019, as in the Western powers will procrastinate until it is too late. The meanings are closely related\u2014if someone prevaricates they often also procrastinate\u2014and this can give rise to confusion in use", "type": "editorialNote"}], "pronunciations": [{"audioFile": "https://audio.oxforddictionaries.com/en/mp3/prevaricate_gb_1.mp3", "dialects": ["British English"], "phoneticNotation": "IPA", "phoneticSpelling": "pr\u026a\u02c8var\u026ake\u026at"}], "senses": [{"definitions": ["speak or act in an evasive way"], "examples": [{"text": "he seemed to prevaricate when journalists asked pointed questions"}], "id": "m_en_gbus0813860.005", "shortDefinitions": ["speak or act in evasive way"], "synonyms": [{"language": "en", "text": "prevaricate"}, {"language": "en", "text": "be evasive"}, {"language": "en", "text": "be non-committal"}, {"language": "en", "text": "be vague"}, {"language": "en", "text": "be ambiguous"}, {"language": "en", "text": "dodge the issue"}, {"language": "en", "text": "evade the issue"}, {"language": "en", "text": "beat about the bush"}, {"language": "en", "text": "hedge"}, {"language": "en", "text": "hedge one's bets"}, {"language": "en", "text": "fudge the issue"}], "thesaurusLinks": [{"entry_id": "equivocate", "sense_id": "t_en_gb0005018.001"}]}]}], "language": "en-gb", "lexicalCategory": {"id": "verb", "text": "Verb"}, "text": "prevaricate"}], "type": "headword", "word": "prevaricate"}], "word": "prevaricate"}