Translation guide
The act of avoiding telling the truth by being deliberately vague or misleading. In Japanese, this concept is expressed through various words and phrases that describe evasion, equivocation, or beating around the bush.
To describe the act of speaking in a way that avoids the truth, often by being ambiguous or indirect.
A common noun meaning evasion or excuse-making in speech. It implies trying to avoid responsibility or a direct answer.
彼の言い逃れはもう聞き飽きた。
I'm tired of hearing his prevarications.
Literally 'vague way of speaking'. This phrase is used when someone is being intentionally unclear to avoid committing to the truth.
彼はいつも曖昧な言い方をする。
He always speaks in a prevaricating way.
A verb phrase meaning to be evasive or equivocate. Literally 'to muddy one's words'. It describes the act of not giving a clear answer.
彼は質問に言葉を濁した。
He prevaricated in response to the question.
A verb meaning to dodge a question or evade the point. It implies a deliberate attempt to avoid giving a straight answer.
彼は私の質問をはぐらかした。
He prevaricated and dodged my question.
A verb meaning to deceive, cheat, or gloss over. In the context of speech, it can mean to prevaricate by covering up the truth.
彼は自分の失敗をごまかそうとした。
He tried to prevaricate about his mistake.
To refer to a particular statement or act of prevarication.
A formal noun meaning falsehood or lie. It can be used for a prevarication that involves an outright false statement.
彼の証言には虚偽が含まれていた。
His testimony contained prevarications.
A noun or na-adjective meaning nonsense or random talk. It can describe prevarication that is clearly untrue or made up.
To describe the general behavior of not telling the truth, often in a formal or legal context.
A formal noun meaning deception or deceit. It implies a more serious, often systematic, prevarication.
彼の行動は欺瞞に満ちていた。
His actions were full of prevarication.
The English word 'prevarication' is relatively formal and specific. In Japanese, there is no single exact equivalent. It is more natural to use phrases that describe the action of evading or being vague, such as 言葉を濁す or はぐらかす, depending on the context.
言い逃れ (evasion) is not necessarily a direct lie (嘘, うそ). It often involves avoiding the truth without making a false statement. Use 嘘 when the person is clearly stating something untrue.
彼は嘘をついた。
He told a lie.
彼は言い逃れをした。
He prevaricated.
彼の言っていることはでたらめだ。
What he's saying is pure prevarication.