tergiverser

\tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se\

/\tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“tergiverser” has 17 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #48,825. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#48,825
frequency rank, French
3,703
“T” headwords
17
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Prendre des détours, des faux-fuyants pour éloigner ou pour éluder la conclusion d’une affaire, la décision d’une question, pour ne pas faire une réponse positive, etc.

Corpus desk

Index FR-tergiverser · tergiverser · French

tergiverser · rank #48,825 · 17 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #48,825
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,703
  • PHOTO-FINISH Tavares

Nearest frequency peer: Tavares (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « tergiverser »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « tergiverser » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tergiverser
PropertyValue
Headwordtergiverser
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se\
Letters11
Frequency rank#48,825
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « tergiverser »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).tergiverserse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « Tavares » (#48,824), « ternie » (#48,826), « tartre » (#48,823). Parmi 3,703 lemmes en « T », « tergiverser » est au #48,825. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around tergiverser (IPA \tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se\), averb. Corpus frequency is #48,825 among 3,703 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Prendre des détours, des faux-fuyants pour éloigner ou pour éluder la conclusion d’une affaire, la décision d’une question, pour ne pas faire une réponse positive, etc.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for tergiverser, with forms such as "etrgiverser", "tegriverser", and "terggiverser". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is tergiverser, spelled T-E-R-G-I-V-E-R-S-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Prendre des détours, des faux-fuyants pour éloigner ou pour éluder la conclusion d’une affaire, la décision d’une question, pour ne pas faire une réponse positive, etc.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tergiverser appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. On ne l'obtint qu'en 1848. Le décret du 27 avril supprimait l'esclavage pour toujours. Mais ce décret ne fut pas publié tout de suite dans les colonies. On tergiversa longtemps.
  2. Il faut cesser de tergiverser et agir, vite!

Synonyms

niaiser avec la puck

This word in other languages

dither(English)vacilar(Español)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etrgiverser
  • tegriverser
  • terggiverser
  • tergievrser
  • tergiveresr
  • tergiverrser
  • tergiverserr
  • tergiversre
  • tergiversser
  • tergivesrer
  • tergivreser
  • tergivverser
  • tergvierser
  • terigverser
  • terrgiverser
  • tregiverser
  • ttergiverser

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tergiverser - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

etrgiverser2tegriverser2terggiverser1tergievrser2tergiveresr2tergiverrser1tergiverserr1tergiversre2
Edit distance from "tergiverser"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tergiverser"?
"tergiverser" is spelled T-E-R-G-I-V-E-R-S-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se\.
What does "tergiverser" mean?
As a verb, "tergiverser" means: Prendre des détours, des faux-fuyants pour éloigner ou pour éluder la conclusion d’une affaire, la décision d’une question, pour ne pas faire une réponse positive, etc.
What are common misspellings of "tergiverser"?
Common misspellings include "etrgiverser", "tegriverser", "terggiverser", "tergievrser", "tergiveresr". The correct spelling is "tergiverser".
How do you pronounce "tergiverser"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tergiverser" is \tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tergiverser" come from?
"tergiverser" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tergiverser", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

séduisantes#48,815superficies#48,810transformez#48,840suffiraient#48,809

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

tortionnaires17 variantsverticalité17 variantsrelationnelles17 variantsrecontacter17 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list