Prevaricate

To “prevaricate” (prih-VARE-uh-kate) – from the Latin for “bent” – is to depart from or evade the truth.

Example (as used by Stephen R. Graubard in The New York Times): “Journalism has a similar obligation, particularly with men and women suddenly transferred to places of great power, who are often led to exaggerate and prevaricate, all in the name of a supposedly greater good.”

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