prevarication
/pɹɪˌvæɹ.ɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/
"prevarication" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prevarication” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Evasion of the truth.
Corpus desk
Index EN-prevarication · prevarication · English
prevarication · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | prevarication |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɹɪˌvæɹ.ɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “prevarication” in English
Rare enough to double-check
prevarication is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pɹɪˌvæɹ.ɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
prevarication doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin praevāricātiō (“collusion with an opponent; duplicity, deceit; violation of duty, transgression”, literally “stepping out of line”), from praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; go astray; transgress”) + -tās. The virtually obsolete sense of de… The correct English form is prevarication, spelled P-R-E-V-A-R-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Evasion of the truth.
- 2Deviation from what is right or correct.
- 3A secret abuse in the exercise of a public office.
- 4The collusion of an informer with the defendant, for the purpose of making a sham prosecution.
- 5A false or deceitful seeming to undertake a thing for the purpose of defeating or destroying it.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how prevarication appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Prevarication became the order of the day in his government while truth was a stranger in those halls.
The trumpet—vvill it ſound? the curtain riſe? And ſhow th' auguſt tribunal of the ſkies, / VVhere no prevarication ſhall avail, / VVhere eloquence and artifice ſhall fail, […]
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin praevāricātiō (“collusion with an opponent; duplicity, deceit; violation of duty, transgression”, literally “stepping out of line”), from praevāricor (“to walk crookedly; go astray; transgress”) + -tās. The virtually obsolete sense of deviation or transgression may have been influenced by an earlier stage of borrowing via Middle English prevaricacioun, prevaricacion (“deviation from the law; transgression”) from Anglo-Norman prevaricaciun (“transgression, violation of correct conduct”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.